Bobby Petrino reveals the key to his philosophy meshing with Jimbo Fisher's on offense

Bobby Petrino becomes more comfortable with the Texas A&M offense every day. On Sunday, the Aggies offensive coordinator revealed how he’s connecting with head coach Jimbo Fisher‘s vision on offense.

“Hard work and that’s what’s been fun about it,” Petrino told the press. “[Jimbo Fisher] will come up early in the morning, and we get in the meeting room and grind and watch tape. And, you know, I think we watched some tape from 1984 LSU to see what we did there.

“We’ve got a great staff. So we’re putting the Texas A&M Aggie offense together. The input from everybody, how do we make it better? What do we have to do? So we’re building the playbook, and it really has been enjoyable.”

Much-needed improvement

No matter how the Texas A&M staff builds the playbook, it must be better than last year’s volume. In 2022, the Aggies averaged just 22.8 points per game, ranking 101st in the nation. Consequently, the team went 5-7 and 2-6 in conference play, losing six-straight contests in the SEC.

Despite the team’s shortcomings under Fisher, Petrino insists the 57-year-old head coach is one of the best he’s ever worked with.

“My respect for [Fisher] has gotten even higher than it was when I came here because I’ve worked for some head coaches that do a great job of being the CEO and managing everything, but really weren’t into the ball part of it,” Petrino said. “This, [in comparison], has been a lot of fun.”

Petrino has history

Petrino has no shortage of experience with other personalities. Petrino has served as the head coach for Missouri State, Louisville, WKU, Arkansas and the Atlanta Falcons. Further, Petrino has been an assistant at Idaho, Arizona State, Auburn and more.

Of course, Fisher is no rookie himself. Petrino claims the two will combine their veteran wisdom to call plays on offense.

“It is a collective effort. I’ve been calling the plays out of practice, and I will do that. But a lot of times, the plays are called throughout the week,” Petrino said. “You put down your third and shorts and know what you want to do run-wise. You know what you want to do, pass-wise. Then, you practice them. Then, you go back and rank them… The call is already made.”

Hopefully for A&M fans, those calls are reminiscent of Petrino’s past success in the SEC. At Arkansas, Petrino’s offenses ranked second in the SEC in scoring in 2010 (36.5 points per game) and first in 2011 (36.8 points per game).

Watch Petrino and Fisher’s offense hit the field on Sept. 2 in the Aggies’ season opener against New Mexico.