Greg McElroy reacts to Texas A&M's hiring of Bobby Petrino

All-in-all, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy thinks Texas A&M did pretty will in hiring Bobby Petrino to be the new offensive coordinator. Now all that stands between the 2022 offensive malaise and Petrino getting some better offense cooking in College Station might be the man who hired him: Jimbo Fisher.

McElroy put it simply: He thinks the Petrino hire can work out really well for Texas A&M, so long as the head coach can keep himself from meddling. Fisher will have say — and deservedly, as someone still deeply knowledgable in offensive football — in what the offense does, but McElroy thinks it needs to primarily be a delegation of the task to Petrino.

“Bobby Petrino is going to score points. Here’s what I’m interested in, though. Does Jimbo Fisher meddle? Or does he delegate? Because Jimbo Fisher, obviously, has called plays for a very long time. And is, I think, still a really good coordinator. I know people like to think otherwise. Fair enough. I think that Jimbo, maybe there are some things that aren’t necessarily as — he’s not like a revolutionary,” McElroy said. “He’s going to run traditional offense. And I look at how many young players played last year. Goodness gracious, they had so many freshmen. So they were kind of hamstrung with some of things they could or couldn’t do offensively.”

McElroy continued his point, noting that Fisher and his play calling became the scapegoat amidst Texas A&M’s dismal 2022 season.

But the hiring of Petrino is indicative that he and the offense fell short in 2022 and needed a different, dedicated voice.

“He acknowledged: Hey man, maybe I need an extra set of eyes up here,” McElroy said. “Maybe I need to go out and hire a guy that’s legit. And he can focus exclusively on trying to score as many points as humanly possible. That’s what he did. He went out and he gets Bobby Petrino. But now, will he let Bobby Petrino have full control? Because that’s what I’m wondering about.”

If Fisher can be hands off and Petrino gets things working, McElroy thinks Texas A&M could be back up and humming, playing at a high level sooner rather than later.

“I think Jimbo’s a good offensive mind. I think Bobby Petrino’s a good offensive mind. I think they’re going to have really good personnel. I think Texas A&M’s got a chance to be a really surprise team this year. I do. But will Jimbo Fisher completely delegate? That’s what I want to find out. And until I know the answer to that question, I’m going to proceed with caution as it relates to the Texas A&M coordinator job,” McElroy said.