Ainias Smith shares what Bobby Petrino has taught him, Texas A&M offense

Texas A&M‘s Maroon & White Spring Game took place on Saturday, wrapping up spring practices for the Aggies this offseason. Spring practice this season for the Aggies’ offense meant working under newly hired offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, who according to wide receiver Ainias Smith, had a reticent introduction to the team.

“When I had first met him I was very intrigued to see how he would get along with everybody on the team,” Smith said. “And he low-key surprised me because when he came in he was very quiet at first, I’m not gonna lie, he was very soft-spoken.”

Petrino may have been reserved by nature, but he got his point across. He brings over 15 years of Division I head coaching experience, leading programs like Arkansas and Louisville to double-digit win seasons in the past. He’s one of the most seasoned offensive minds across the entire college football landscape and has already implemented some new pillars to Texas A&M’s offense.

“But he definitely knew exactly what he wanted and he has a few things that he wants, but one of them is finishing. Playing with speed, making sure that we’re coming off the ball like everywhere, offensive line, receivers, running backs,” Smith explained. “Making sure we’re just playing with intensity, you know what I’m saying?”

If speed is what Petrino is looking for, then Smith is his guy. The graduate student has been the Swiss army knife of the Aggies offense for four seasons now, doing whatever is asked of him. In his career, Smith has caught 127 passes for 1,612 yards, rushed for 384 yards on 67 carries, accumulated 808 return yards, and scored a total of 22 touchdowns.

His year was cut short just four games into last season after suffering a fracture in his leg versus Arkansas. Smith has used the spring to recover and regain his explosiveness, doing so in Petrino’s new-look offense that sounds like will compliment his speed well.

“And have some want to out there and make it seem like we actually want to win. So really just playing with speed, playing faster than the people that are in front of us,” Smith said.

The Aggies finished second to last in scoring offense last season in the SEC only behind Kentucky, averaging just 22.8 points per game. And hopefully, the addition of Petrino and the re-addition of Smith can help turn that round this season in College Station.