Jimbo Fisher hires Bobby Petrino for huge role at Texas A&M

Jimbo Fisher is making a major change at Texas A&M heading into the 2023 season.

Bobby Petrino has been hired as Texas A&M’s new offensive coordinator, Chris Low of ESPN reports. The plan is for Petrino to take over playcalling duties.

Fisher has called offensive plays throughout his five seasons as the head coach at Texas A&M. He also called plays during his time at Florida State, where he won a national championship.

The change is significant, though not exactly a shock. Texas A&M averaged just 22.8 points per game this year, which ranked 102nd in the nation. The Aggies finished 5-7, and there were some rumblings that Fisher might be fired. It is possible he was pressured into hiring a new OC he would trust to call plays.

Petrino, 61, served as the head coach at FCS school Missouri State for the past three seasons. He led the team to the FCS playoffs in his first two seasons, but the Bears finished 5-6 this year.

Petrino was the head coach at Louisville from 2014-2018. That was his second stint as head coach of the Cardinals. He was the head coach at Western Kentucky, Arkansas and of the Atlanta Falcons in between his stints at Louisville.

What is particularly interesting about Petrino joining Texas A&M is that he accepted a job as the offensive coordinator at another school less than a month ago. Plans obviously changed for him over the past few weeks.