SEC Media Days sheds sparse light on Texas A&M's new offensive structure

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Talking season got underway in the Southeastern Conference as Media Days kicked off, for the first time, at the Nashville Grand Hyatt Hotel Monday.
Though Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher took the podium, not much was said by the sixth-year Aggie head coach coming off a 5-7 season that forced a reevaluation of the program.
A consistent barrage of questions were hurled at Fisher regarding his offseason hire of new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, who was believed to have been brought on board to run the offense and call plays. As has been the case since the former Arkansas head coach’s hire, Fisher did not provide clarity on Petrino’s job description.
Fisher’s refrain was that he did not want to provide advantages for his opponents who might have tuned in on the SEC Network broadcast of the media event.
“Bobby was hired for a reason,” Fisher said. “He’s a tremendous coach and a tremendous guy and a tremendous football mind, tremendous recruiter. He’s done a great job recruiting since he’s been there and everything he does. Hopefully, he’ll call the game. We’ll have suggestions on things we do, whether it’s offense or defense.”
Fisher has called plays through the entirety of his head coaching career, which began at Florida State in 2010 and even before that as he was an offensive coordinator with the Seminoles and at LSU. Petrino also has a decades-long history of calling offensive plays both as a head coach and assistant coach.
The rubber met the road last season when Fisher’s offense finished the fall ranked 92nd in the country in total offense, averaging 360.9 yards per game, and 100th in scoring offense at a 22.8 point per game clip.
To Fisher, the answer still remains in the collective of his coaching staff. He stood by the belief that he’s espoused through the spring that game planning the offense, including play calling, will be a group effort and not solely on the shoulders of one individual.
“Every coach is always involved,” Fisher said. “It’s a more collective thing than people want to give it room for. When you get to calling and you get on a roll, you’ve got to have a guy who can do it and I think Bobby can definitely do that and he does it as well as anybody in college football. I’ve had great respect for him. Me and him have had a great admiration for each other for a long time.”
Through spring practice, Fisher took a more visible CEO role as Petrino took over the details of offensive practice. Immediate correction for a poorly-ran route or miscommunication between the running back and the quarterback was Petrino’s responsibility, with Fisher calling a player to the side occasionally to provide additional instruction.
Fisher backed this up Monday when asked about coaching roles.
“I’m not going to get into all the dynamics in which we have, but Bobby takes them,” Fisher said. He runs those rooms and does those rooms. But I’m in offensive rooms and defensive rooms all the time, as a head coach. You have to be, because you get what’s going on.”
There was a noticeable swagger with offensive players this spring, defensive lineman McKinley Jackson and Fadil Diggs said, independent of each other. Some part of Petrino’s arrival provided a confidence boost for an offense that sputtered through last season.
Veteran wide receiver Ainias Smith said there was a new sense of freedom within the offense under Petrino’s guidance, resulting in more swagger.
“I feel like that’s just Coach Petrino just letting us be us,” Smith said. “It’s not so much a stress on doing every little thing perfect. I feel like Jimbo is somebody that loves perfection.”
Now, the offensive players have two experienced resources for instruction through practice, he said.
“Coach Fisher is a great coach and he will come back and talk to you later on,” Smith said. “But, in the moment, Coach Fisher has so much to worry about, it was low-key hard for him to get back to some of those players in the moment and try to talk to them, because of him being a head coach. Now, with Coach Petrino, Coach Fisher can actually sit back and talk to some of the guys and not only can Coach Fisher talk, but we have the addition of Coach Petrino, who was a former head coach and knows the roles and how to talk to a player.”
The simplicity of the offensive game plan in the Aggies’ spring game shed little light on what the merging of offensive minds will produce come fall. Monday, Fisher shed little light on the possibilities, other than the fact that Petrino has run similar pro-style schemes as Fisher has become known for.
“Have you ever watched Bobby?” Fisher said. “Bobby has a lot of underneath play action. I’m not going to get into schematics and four-wide. We’re not going to get into that. I’m not going to sit here and say exactly what we’re going to do or how we’re going to do it, but we’ll have a good plan. And then they key is, we’ve got to execute it and do it and get the ball to the right guys and right playmakers.”
Both coaches boast strong personalities and convictions behind their offensive beliefs, which led to questions on how the two will handle conflict. Fisher said it is no different than any debate that comes up in a coaching room.
“Every coaching staff in America has an argument or disagreement as a part of it,” Fisher said. “But, no. I’m the boss where the boss will do it, at the end of the day, but you listen to everybody’s opinion. Everybody can voice their opinion. I want guys with opinion. I want guys who have knowledge. I want guys that make you think. I want guys to create different narratives that are brought to the table that can help us. I think that’s the best thing you have.”
It is likely the Aggie faithful won’t know what shape the Aggie offense takes on until A&M faces New Mexico for the Sept. 2 opener at Kyle Field. But, as far as Smith is concerned, it will work.
“Man, everybody is going to be open, let’s just say that,” Smith said. “Everybody is going to be open – most definitely.”