This is pretty remarkable considering Petrino’s body of work, but it also speaks to the degree of difficulty of this particular task. And Petrino, who has never worried about politeness at any point in his life, would have no qualms telling Fisher where he could stick his play sheet if Fisher decided to repossess said sheet.Īnd just as with the younger coach, Petrino might have a chance to be a Power 5 head coach again if he fixes this offense. He knows that if Fisher decides to change the plan, Texas A&M would have to pay him more to not work than it would for him to do the job he was hired to do. While he operates differently, Petrino’s personality is as strong as Fisher’s and Petrino essentially loses nothing from a reputation standpoint - for reasons we’ll detail below - if this blows up in everyone’s face. What happens if the offense has a bad game or two early in 2023? If Fisher decides before the Auburn game in Week 4 that he wants to call plays again, what could a coach in Riley’s position do? Refuse to give up the role? Threaten to quit? If the young coordinator plays that situation wrong, he can poison his future prospects.įisher and Petrino coached against each other in the ACC from 2014-18. But can a 33-year-old still trying to climb to the top of the coaching mountain afford to have a situation like this implode? People on every side of this search confirmed that Fisher made very clear this coordinator would call plays and run his own offense.

His older brother Lincoln has been the head coach at two name-brand programs, but Garrett is trying to work his way to that level.įixing a Texas A&M offense that didn’t score more than 28 points until the season finale absolutely would make Riley a Power 5 head coaching candidate. TCU can run wide-open and create huge plays in the passing game, but the Horned Frogs also gobble chunks of yards on the ground. So if you’re, say, TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, you absolutely fit qualification No. The offense on John James Fisher’s team has always been John James Fisher’s baby. Until the middle of the 2022 season, Fisher had been adamant that he wanted to call the plays. He won a national title and three ACC titles running and calling his offense. For 12 years prior to that, he was a play-calling offensive coordinator at Cincinnati, LSU and Florida State. 2.įisher has been the primary play caller for his team since he became a head coach for the first time at Florida State in 2010. But the pool shrinks considerably when we reach No. There are young position coaches, old position coaches, current coordinators, former head coaches and NFL coaches who can capably run an offense today. (While we wish for an SEC Network show that is just a live feed into Texas A&M’s offensive meeting room.)Ī lot of coaches fit criterion No. But first let’s explain why it basically had to be Petrino.

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