Aggie Football: Debunking the myth that Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Petrino won’t work
With just under two months until the start of the 2023 college football season, it leaves plenty of room for the usual preseason power rankings and predictions to drop in droves. And, of course, how can you forget the endless false narratives spewed out during what is regarded as “talkin’ season.”
Texas A&M has no shortage of the latter as they come off an underwhelming 5-7 campaign in 2022. Perhaps the most notorious is none other than: “Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Petrino aren’t going to work.” In fact, some have doubled down on that belief by saying, “Fisher and Petrino absolutely hate each other!” Better yet, an anonymous SEC coach went so far as to call the pairing a “Nightmare on Elm Street scenario.”
Well, it’s time to put at least that one false narrative to bed officially. Here’s the reasoning why you shouldn’t sell your Aggies stock, according to 247Sports’ Brad Crawford:
“Truthfully, this hire might be the most impactful nationally if Fisher steps out of the way and allows Petrino to do what he does best. The Aggies certainly have the ingredients necessary to make a masterpiece at all position groups offensively — there’s former five-star quarterback Conner Weigman, a five-star freshman ballcarrier in Rueben Owens, a couple of elite-level wideouts and the versatile Ainias Smith, whose speed is something any play-caller would love to have. Be careful selling your stock on the Aggies before seeing Petrino’s fingerprints on the game plan. It’s time for Fisher to step out of his way.”
Truth be told, Fisher and Petrino have traits that make for easy hot takes. That itself is just as much of a reason why the hiring of Petrino has generated so much conversation. Others understand that Petrino is coming to College Station to improve an offense ranked 101st in scoring last season.
If you remove the need for hot takes, it’s clear that the potential is at an all-time high for this offense, and the pairing of Fisher and Petrino is one of the many core factors in that belief.
Petrino is widely regarded as one of the most successful quarterback developers, and his track record speaks to that success. Throughout his coaching career, Petrino’s offenses have averaged at least 400 yards in 16-of-20 seasons and 30 points per game in 15 seasons, while his teams have eclipsed the 500-yard and 40-point thresholds five and three times.
With Weigman ready to take another leap under center and with a bevy of talented receivers such as Smith, Evan Stewart, and Moose Muhammad III, what was once hindering this team in 2022 could prove to be a strength for the coming season. The pieces are there to put together something incredible, and now it’s up to Fisher and Petrino to prove why their partnership was meant to work from the beginning.
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