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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher told ESPN on Monday that fallout from his relinquishing playcalling duties to new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino has been vastly overblown and the transition couldn’t have gone any smoother.
Fisher, entering his sixth season at Texas A&M after a 5-7 campaign a year ago, said would not have made the hire if he didn’t think it was best for the Aggies to land an offensive mind of Petrino’s caliber and free up the coach to be more involved in different aspects of the program. Texas A&M dipped to 101st nationally in scoring offense last season (22.8 points per game) and had 24 or fewer points in nine of its 12 games.
“Why wouldn’t you bring in someone like Bobby who’s done it at the level he has?” Fisher said. “We get along as well or better than anybody I’ve coached with. We communicate well. We share ideas, not afraid to challenge each other, anything to get where we want to be on offense. He’ll make us better and knows that I’m still going to be in the offensive room some, but going to be in the defensive room some, too.”
Fisher joked that any narrative that he and Petrino had already been butting heads in the spring over control of the offense made for good drama for the media to write about in the offseason.
“Yeah, we’ve had three wrestling matches, two boxing matches,” Fisher said, smiling. “I mean, it’s been awesome. He’s done a great job recruiting. When we played against each other [as head coaches], he would study our film and I would study his film. There were not a lot of guys that did the stuff we did.”
Fisher said he had already been considering giving up playcalling and “played with it for a few weeks” when he was at Florida State. But he said Petrino being the primary playcaller doesn’t mean Fisher will be completely hands-off. He will still be involved and have a headset on for every game.
“But every head coach does,” Fisher said. “Let me ask you this: Does Nick [Saban] call the defense [at Alabama]? But he’s involved. Any head coach is. That’s what a head coach does. In situations, they make decisions. Are we going for it? Are we not going for it? Is this the time to take a shot? I mean, every head coach does that.”
Senior receiver Ainias Smith said he knew things were changing when Fisher showed up for the first offensive meeting of the spring, introduced Petrino and then walked out of the room.
“The energy [Petrino] brought that day was what you really noticed, just his tenacity,” Smith said. “He wants to win and do things right. It’s sort of like your parent that tries to teach you to do it right and then you turn around and play sports and your coach is like the father figure and your father steps away and lets the coach do his job. They have worked very well together on the field and off the field, and brought family into the picture.”
Smith, coming off a broken leg a year ago, said he is excited about the versatility in Petrino’s offense and hopes to get some chances in the shotgun formation.
“He’s going to use all his guys, get them the ball and you’re going to see a lot of movement,” Smith said.
Petrino is one of three former head coaches on Fisher’s staff along with defensive coordinator DJ Durkin and offensive line coach Steve Addazio.
“You want guys with great ideas and their opinions,” Fisher said. “I mean, all your great coaches do. If you’re scared to hire somebody you think is very good, then you’re not very good.”
One of the things Fisher likes best about Petrino is his obsession with the sport.
“He’s very focused. He’s very driven,” Fisher said. “He loves football. He loves to coach football. He likes the X’s and O’s of football, and he likes the relationships with his players.”
Asked about Texas A&M’s offense under Petrino, defensive lineman McKinnley Jackson said, “I feel bad for every defense … except for ours.”
“He has a great scheme, great offensive mind and is going to do a lot for our defense because he’s going to put a lot of points on the board,” Jackson added. “We’ve got to complement them on defense and get a lot of three-and-outs so he can run up the scoreboard.
“We ain’t going to take our time scoring.”