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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher told ESPN on Monday that his relinquishing play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has been way overblown and that the transition couldn’t have gone any smoother.
Fisher, entering his sixth season at Texas A&M after a 5-7 campaign a year ago, said he never would have brought in Petrino if he didn’t think that’s what was best for the Aggies, in particular landing an offensive mind of Petrino’s caliber and freeing up Fisher to be more involved in different aspects of the program. Texas A&M dipped to 101st nationally in scoring offense last season (22.8 points per game) and scored 24 or fewer points in nine of its 12 games.
“Why wouldn’t you bring in someone like Bobby who’s done it at the level he has?” Fisher said. “We get along as well or better than anybody I’ve coached with. We communicate well. We share ideas, not afraid to challenge each other, anything to get where we want to be on offense. He’ll make us better and knows that I’m still going to be in the offensive room some, but going to be in the defensive room some, too.”
Fisher joked that any narrative out there that he and Petrino had already been butting heads in the spring over control of the offense made for good drama for the media to write about in the offseason.
“Yeah, we’ve had three wrestling matches, two boxing matches,” Fisher said smiling. “I mean, it’s been awesome. He’s done a great job recruiting. When we played against each other, [as head coaches], he would study our film and I would study his film. There were not a lot of guys that did the stuff we did.”
Fisher said he had already been considering giving up play-calling and “played with it for a few weeks” when he was at Florida State. But he said just because Petrino will be the primary play-caller doesn’t mean Fisher will be completely hands-off. He’s still going to be involved and will have a headset on for every game.
“But every head coach does,” Fisher said. “Let me ask you this: Does Nick [Saban] call the defense [at Alabama]? But he’s involved. Any head coach is. That’s what a head coach does. In situations, they make decisions. Are we going for it? Are we not going for it? Is this the time to take a shot? I mean, every head coach does that.”
Senior receiver Ainias Smith said he knew things were changing when Fisher showed up for the first offensive meeting of the spring, introduced Petrino and then walked out of the room.
“The energy [Petrino] brought that day was what you really noticed, just his tenacity,” Smith said. “He wants to win and do things right. It’s sort of like your parent that tries to teach you to do it right and then you turn around and play sports and your coach is like the father figure and your father steps away and lets the coach do his job. They have worked very well together, on the field and off the field, and brought family into the picture.”
Smith, coming off a broken leg a year ago, is excited about the versatility in Petrino’s offense and is especially hopeful to get some chances in the shotgun formation.
“He’s going to use all his guys, get them the ball, and you’re going to see a lot of movement,” Smith said.
Petrino is one of three former head coaches on Fisher’s staff along with defensive coordinator DJ Durkin and offensive line coach Steve Addazio.
“You want guys with great ideas and their opinions,” Fisher said. “I mean, all your great coaches do. If you’re scared to hire somebody you think is very good, then you’re not very good.”
One of the things Fisher likes best about Petrino is that he’s a football junkie.
“He’s very focused. He’s very driven,” Fisher said. “He loves football. He loves to coach football. He likes the X’s and O’s of football, and he likes the relationships with his players.”
Defensive lineman McKinnley Jackson, asked about Texas A&M’s offense under Petrino, said, “I feel bad for every defense … except for ours.”
“He has a great scheme, great offensive mind, and is going to do a lot for our defense because he’s going to put a lot of points on the board,” Jackson added. “We’ve got to complement them on defense and get a lot of three-and-outs so he can run up the scoreboard.
“We ain’t going to take our time scoring.”