Jimbo Fisher is bringing in former Arkansas and Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino, one of the most respected offensive minds in football, to be Texas A&M‘s offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN.
Fisher has always called his own plays on offense and is one of the diminishing number of head coaches to do so, and although he will still be heavily involved in the Aggies’ offense, sources told ESPN that Petrino will take over primary playcalling duties.
Fisher just completed his fifth season at Texas A&M, a season that saw the Aggies go 5-7 and miss a bowl game for the first time since 2008.
Petrino was most recently at UNLV, for less than a month, after accepting the offensive coordinator job under new head coach Barry Odom on Dec. 15. Petrino spent the previous three seasons as Missouri State‘s head coach and guided the Bears to FCS playoff appearances in two of his three seasons. At the time of Petrino’s arrival, Missouri State had gone 30 years without a playoff appearance.
Fisher said following the Aggies’ disappointing 2022 season, which was marred by injuries and off-the-field issues, that he was open to relinquishing playcalling duties and hiring an accomplished offensive coordinator to come in and call plays, which would free up Fisher to be more involved in all facets of the program. Fisher and Petrino had talks about the Texas A&M offensive coordinator position in early December, but nothing materialized. Petrino then took the UNLV job later in the month after Odom was hired.
Petrino told Odom on Wednesday that he was leaving for Texas A&M, according to sources, and an official announcement by Texas A&M is expected soon.
It’s not uncommon for Fisher to take his time and wait until January to make a coordinator hire. He hired his last two defensive coordinators (D.J. Durkin and Mike Elko) after the New Year. For this job, Fisher also talked to TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, among others, sources told ESPN.
Petrino, 61, has extensive head-coaching experience and has found success at all of his college stops. He coached a Heisman Trophy winner in Lamar Jackson at Louisville, elevated Arkansas and Louisville to national relevance for the first time in years and has won 65.8% of his games as a college head coach.