A Deep Dive Into How Aggies OC Bobby Petrino's FBS Offenses Have Fared
Texas A&M offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will look to overhaul an Aggies offense that ranked 101st in scoring offense and 93rd in total offense in 2022.
Petrino has served as either an offensive coordinator or head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision for 20 years. Let's dive into some numbers from each of Petrino's FBS offenses in either an offensive coordinator or head coaching role and what he brings to the Aggies offense.
Petrino began coaching in 1983 as a graduate assistant at Carroll College, also serving as the offensive coordinator from 1985-86. He was a graduate assistant at Weber State in 1984 before taking a position as the Wildcats' wide receivers and tight ends coach during the 1987-88.
He then spent three seasons at Idaho first as the quarterbacks coach before getting promoted to offensive coordinator for the 1990-91 season, earning his first Power Five job as Arizona State's quarterbacks coach.
Petrino's first offensive coordinator job at Nevada in 1994 was met with one of the most explosive offenses in Wolfpack history, as they amassed 507.4 yards and 37.6 points per game.
For the next three seasons as Utah State's offensive coordinator, all three of his offense's averaged at least 434 yards per game and ranked in the top 16. His 1996-97 offenses were both ninth in the FBS in total offense, while both scoring 30 points per game.
At his first stop at Louisville as its offensive coordinator in 1998, the Cardinals totaled 559.64 yards per game — the most of any offense he has coached in his FBS career. It also marked the first of three offenses he's coached that averaged at least 40 points per game.
After his first NFL stint, he spent one year at Auburn in 2002, notching a top-50 offense with the Tigers in his first Power Five offensive coordinator job.
Petrino returned to Louisville in his first of two head coaching stints with the Cardinals, and from 2003-06, he ran one of the most high-powered offenses in college football.
Louisville averaged no worse than 475 yards and 34.6 points per game in a season, ranking no worse than ninth in total offense. After finishing 15th in scoring offense in 2003, the Cardinals were top-four or better in that category Petrino's final three seasons at the helm.
His offensive pinnacle came in 2004 when Louisville's offense averaged 539 yards and 49.8 points per game, which both topped the nation.
Petrino was the Atlanta Falcons head coach for a season, returning to college as Arkansas' head coach from 2008-11. After a 2008 season that left a lot to be desired, ranking 49th in total offense and 91st in scoring offense he righted the ship.
The next three seasons, the Razorbacks had three top-30 offenses, including the No. 9 offense in 2010.
He spent one season at Western Kentucky before returning to Louisville for his third coaching position and second time as a head coach.
After a rocky first two seasons, the Cardinals had top-10 offenses in 2016-17 which were aided by otherworldly play from quarterback Lamar Jackson. Petrino's final season at Louisville was his worst offense in his career, averaging just over 350 yards and under 20 points per game, the latter ranking tied for 122nd in the country.
Overall in Petrino's career, offenses he has run have averaged at least 400 yards in 16-of-20 seasons and 30 points per game in 15 of those years. He has helped eclipse the 500-yard and 40-point thresholds five and three times, respectively.
Under head coach Jimbo Fisher, that same level of production hasn't been attained.
In his five seasons at the helm, Fisher-led offenses have ranked in the top 30 just once — his first season. The Aggies averaged at least 400 yards and 30 points per game in 2018 and 2020, but were below those benchmarks in Fisher's three other seasons.
His offensive prowess was part of the reason he was brought in, helping lead Florida State to the national championship in 2013 behind an offense that averaged 519.1 yards and 51.6 points per game.
His offense averaged at least 424 yards from 2012-16, while scoring at least 30 points in every year except his last in Tallahassee, FL.
Aggies quarterback Conner Weigman told TexAgs' Billy Liucci that Fisher has "laid off" and let Petrino "run the show a little bit on the offensive side."
It is unclear if Petrino's offensive scheme can sustain in 2023's pass-happy college football, but if his final stint at Louisville showed anything, it's that the right quarterback helps make an offense operate.
With the limited action he got last year, Weigman showed he was the right quarterback.
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