Jimbo Fisher talks about process behind offensive play-calling

Everybody wants their team to take more deep shots on offense. Fans pile into stadiums to see the big touchdowns, the long passes, the explosive plays. Grounding and pounding the ball with the running back is nice and sometimes efficient, but it’s less showy than bombing a fly route for 75 yards. According to Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, dialing up the the home run is harder than most people realize.

Fisher explained as much during a recent press conference. The Aggies head man was asked what his process of thinking is when considering whether to call a long pass. Here was his response:

“Well, you got to know what’s going on, what the defense is doing, what the situation of the game is and that’s just the feel you have,” said Fisher, before noting that pass protection is vital to calling any longer play.

“Also, we talk about skill guys and that. Talk about protection too. Can you protect it, can you hold it, can you do it? How do you buy time to get in those situations and there was a lot of things that go into it. I mean, you don’t have enough time. I promise you go into all that.”

Fisher also revealed that teams have to analyze their opponent’s defense for weak spots and weak players.

“But when you’re calling plays — we know what Tennessee is as a defense and how you’re attacking a defense and what defender you’re attacking. If I have the guy I want one on one, am I getting low? Safeties, am I getting a corner in a one-on-one situation where I can create it and whatever it may be?”

So there are a ton of moving parts that go into trying to take a big shot down the field. Executing them is darn hard. However, you have to hit some home runs if you want to ball with the big boys in the SEC. For Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M, figuring out how to convert explosive plays is like trying to hit the nail directly on the head.

“There’s a hundred things that goes into when you’re taking shots in a game and when you want to eat clock. When you want to be meticulous or when you want to be explosive. I think it’s also — you have to be able to create explosive plays to get people off of you. And you know those are big parts of winning and having success. I think we’re doing a better job that in camp.”