COLLEGE STATION – The assumption that four months and a few new hires cooled tensions around the Texas A&M football program was shattered when head coach Jimbo Fisher stepped to the podium and cut off a reporter during the first question of the spring. The next 20 minutes remained as awkward as the first. 

Fisher continually rushed through questions that concentrated on incoming offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino. The Texas A&M offense was 101st in scoring last season with an average of 22.8 points per game and 93rd in total offense. The offensive line allowed an average of 2.08 sacks a game and the unit only scored touchdowns in the red zone on 60.53 percent of trips. 

In short, the offense needed to change. Fears that Fisher, who is owed more guaranteed money than any other coach in college football, wouldn’t relinquish that role were quelled when Petrino was hired. But that might not be the end of the story. Fisher sent mixed messages on who was calling plays in the fall. 

“I mean, we’ll go through that as we go,” he said when asked point blank about play-calling duties before continuing, “Plan on (Petrino) calling plays. I have no problem with that.” 

Fisher wanted to discuss execution over scheme. He said that anybody who watches college football film would know that all systems are the same. Every team calls the same plays. Every team runs the same routes. It doesn’t sound like a new scheme is headed to College Station, at least not in the spring.

“We’re running our (offense). We’ll be base fundamentals,” Fisher said. “We’re not getting into scheme. That’s what we’re going to practice, and that’ what we’re going to do on a daily basis.”

The difference is execution, and he believes the combination of Petrino and himself give the Aggies the best chance at improving offensively. Texas A&M went 5-7 in 2022 and is 39-21 overall in Fisher’s first five years on campus. The Aggies are 23-18 in SEC play during that time. 

“I’ve known him a long time. We’ve had great respect for each other,” Fisher said. “After meeting and talking to him, we thought it’d be a very good fit for what we’re trying to do and the things that we believe in.”

No matter the scheme, Texas A&M has plenty of weapons ready to execute. Quarterback Conner Weigman, a former five-star recruit, is a sophomore who started the final four games of the season in 2022. He helped the Aggies beat LSU and didn’t throw an interception on 132 attempts as a true freshman. Ten starters return, including a healthy Ainias Smith and one of the best groups of targets in the SEC. Weigman’s weapons include Smith, Evan Stewart, Moose Muhammad III, and tight end Donovan Green. 

Smith, who signed in 2019 during Fisher’s first full cycle at Texas A&M, returned because he wasn’t healthy enough to go through the combine or pro day after missing the final eight games of the season. Even he joked about not completely knowing the outlook of the offense in 2023 with Petrino in the mix. 

“I know about half as much as y’all,” Smith said with a laugh. “A lot of tempo, a lot of speed, and, hopefully, a lot of touchdowns.”