CEO vs. Play-Calling: Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher Explains New Role
While some still have concerns about just how much control Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher has given new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, his latest comments may quell any concerns that the hiring of a new coordinator won't just be a new scapegoat.
Speaking with the media during one of his most recent press conferences, Fisher, who is used to calling his own offensive plays, was asked about what the biggest difference is between being a coach who calls plays and a "CEO" coach who doesn't make the calls on a play-by-play basis.
“Other guys are game planning, guy can come up and see you during the day and talk about things, getting to know him better, but also ‘These are specific things I see’ when other times you’d be in there game planning all the time,” Fisher said about his newly found free time. “So individually with players, relationships, all those type of things. And you can sometimes even coach as much or more.”
Fisher then went on to explain how it has not only opened him up to be involved with the players daily but also gives him more time to see other sides of the program, like the recruiting side, where he can be more hands-on with the recruiting staff and the support staff as a whole.
That doesn't even mention the possibility of Fisher now being able to get more involved with the other side of the ball defensively, along with special teams.
Yet, that isn't to say that Fisher won't still be involved in the offensive game-planning from week to week, as even non-offensive-minded coaches take part in meetings and are kept up to date with the game plan. So... if everything goes as planned, Fisher won't be the play-caller and won't have the burden of putting everything together game-planning-wise.
“It also frees you up at times to even expand on offensive stuff where if that room’s there, you’re expanding on some other opponents inside or other ideas that are going on in football that they’re having to game plan on and do things," Fisher added. "You have a lot more people that can diversify and do; I call exploratory exercises, of finding information about different things you want to do in all three phases of what you’re trying to do."
Texas A&M will its 2023 regular season against the New Mexico Lobos on Sept. 2, with kickoff inside Kyle Field slated for 6 p.m. CT.
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