Texas A&M has hired hire Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator, the school announced on Friday. Petrino, who's expected to take over play-calling duties from Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher, most recently served as head coach at FCS Missouri State from 2020 through this past season, and was hired as offensive coordinator at UNLV in December 2022.
"I am very happy to add Bobby as our offensive coordinator," Fisher said in a statement. "I always had tremendous respect for him as a head coach, offensive coordinator and play caller. He is one of the best minds in college football. Bobby has a reputation for developing players and we are extremely excited to have him on our staff."
Petrino arrives to College Station, Texas, with a plethora of experience as a head coach at multiple levels. He worked two stints as coach at Louisville (2003-06, 2014-18), and also had stays with the Atlanta Falcons (2007), Arkansas (2008-11) and Western Kentucky (2013). Petrino is 137-71 overall as a college head coach and is known for his track record of developing offenses.
Petrino has produced numerous successful quarterbacks during his time as a head coach, most recently 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson. He will team up with former five-star recruit Conner Weigman at quarterback, who came on in the latter half of the 2022 season, to help revive and Aggies offense that ranked No. 101 nationally in scoring offense at just 22.8 points per game.
Fisher has called plays for his entire career, but fans clamored for a new playcaller as Fisher led the team to a 5-7 record behind a struggling offense in 2022. The Aggies missed a bowl game for the first time since 2008 after signing the No. 1 recruiting class of all time in the 2022 cycle.
Petrino is no stranger to controversy. He resigned as Falcons coach after just 13 games to take the Arkansas job, the third-shortest coaching tenure in NFL history. During his last stint in the SEC as coach at Arkansas, Petrino was fired after engaging in an affair with a football staffer which was inadvertently revealed following an infamous motorcycle crash. His second stint Louisville also ended with a thud as the Cardinals lost seven consecutive conference games the year after Jackson left for the NFL.
Odom opted to hire Petrino as Rebels offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in mid-December, seemingly closing the door on a previously reported marriage between Petrino and Texas A&M. However, the Aggies apparently failed to attract other candidates and ultimately circled back to Petrino.
