'Feed The Studs': Bobby Petrino brings fresh philosophies to Texas A&M

Twenty-three minutes on Sunday afternoon may have provided Aggies with a glut of optimism and hope for the next four months.

In 23 minutes of a 90-minute Texas A&M football press conference, Bobby Petrino — the man brought in resuscitate the Aggies’ offense — seemed to ease concerns about co-existing with coach Jimbo Fisher, confirmed the quality and quantity of A&M’s talent and explained a successful offensive philosophy.

As a head coach at Arkansas and Louisville, Petrino had a reputation as a demanding hard-ass, hard-nosed taskmaster.

Yet, in his first media appearance with Texas A&M, the 62-year-old seemed more like a tranquil, soft-spoken Zen Master.

“It’s the role I’m in. I’m a teacher most, first and foremost,” Petrino said to a group of reporters. “My role is to teach and learn and get to know how they (players) learn, which I’m truly enjoying. Being in the classroom with the quarterbacks, teaching and being there every day has been a lot of fun.

“When you’re on the sidelines, and those guys in the striped shirts make bad calls, it’s hard to keep your poise.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Petrino was hired in January to be Texas A&M’s new offensive coordinator. He was previously the head coach at Missouri State.

“I’m not in that role anymore. I just get to be calm.”

There was nothing calm about the reaction to last season’s debacle. Though starting the season ranked No. 6 in the nation, A&M finished with a disappointing 5-7 record.

The primary culprit was a stagnant offense, which was ranked just 101st in the nation in scoring.

That resulted in Fisher deciding to hire a new offensive coordinator to help revive the offense and take over play-calling duties.

Petrino was his choice.

“We’ve known each other a long time,” Fisher said. “Studied each other’s film for a long time. Schemes, schematics, run game … and he has balance.

“In (Petrino’s offense), it’s not just all throws. It’s not all pass. It’s a balanced attack. He can use different weapons and has done it. If he has a great tight end, he uses him. He has great backs.”

Still, Petrino’s addition to A&M was met with surprise and even disdain by some in the national media.

There were doubts Fisher and Petrino could get along, much less get the offense off the ground.

“I’ve read or heard or have people send me things about you and coach Fisher getting along, duh, duh, duh. That’s not really how it works,” Petrino said. “Coach is the boss. My job is to try to keep him happy and make sure everything works the way he wants it to work.”

Nothing would make Fisher and Aggies happier than to see A&M’s offense resemble those Petrino coached at Arkansas in 2011 and 2010. In those seasons, Arkansas averaged more than 36 points and more than 440 yards.

To do that, Petrino is counting on a three-letter philosophy.

“We talk about offensive philosophy, and I always say FTS, which is ‘Feed The Studs,’’’ Petrino said. “It’s kind of the quarterbacks and the coaches need to understand how do we get the ball to our best guys.

“I’ve never called a play just because this is a fancy play, so let’s call it. I call a play to get the ball to (receivers) Noah (Thomas) or Ainias (Smith) or Evan (Stewart) or Moose (Muhammad). How do we get the ball to them? Where is the matchup at?”

Add in emerging tight ends and highly-recruited running backs, and Petrino may have a whole stable of studs to feed. Indeed, he might have more talent with which to work than he’s ever had.

“It’s exciting to see the talent we have and the weapons that we have,” Petrino said. “You call plays for players. You’ve got to get all your weapons in the right spots. The quarterbacks have to understand it’s our job to get them the ball in good spots where they can make plays for you.”

To illustrate the point, earlier this week, Petrino used a grease board to diagram a play and formation.

A small ’t’ represented a receiver. A small ‘y’ represented another. A huge ‘Z’ represented a third receiver.

“So the (quarterbacks) make sure they understood why we’re in this formation. Oh, to get Z in a one-on-one matchup so we can throw him the ball,” Petrino said. “It’s learning and understanding where your weapons are, what they do well and how we get them the ball.”

To create those favorable matchups, the Aggies will apparently use more sets and pre-snap motion.

Jamie Maury, TexAgs

Weigman and Johnson are currently involved in a battle to be named A&M’s starting quarterback. Fisher has said he has no timeline for reaching a decision.

“I’d say a lot more,” quarterback Max Johnson said. “I think we’re implementing our 12 personnel with tight ends. We also have a three-tight end set. We also have two-back sets, a lot of motion shifts. That’s been a big thing is to keep the defense off their feet.”

Thomas echoed that.

“Just messing with the defense,” he said. "Just trolling the defense. It’s pretty funny."

Deciding whether the starting quarterback is Conner Weigman or Johnson may be the top priority. Ultimately, that’s Fisher's call, but Petrino looks for distinct qualities in a starter.

“The first thing you’ve got to do is be a great leader. You’ve got to make the guys around you better,” Petrino said. “Gotta be accurate and gotta be able to make the throws. We’ve got the talent to do that, which is a great thing. Then, you’ve got to be able to have the poise.

“There’s a lot of occupational hazards as a quarterback. One of them is when things don’t go good, the blame is coming on your shoulders. You have to be able to brush it off and forget about it, be thick-skinned and move forward. That’s just an occupational hazard. That goes with the position.”

Petrino knows that also goes with calling plays. His philosophies are celebrated.

His track record invokes visions of grandeur for A&M’s offense.

His influence and play-calling could be the difference between a good season and a great one.

But Petrino advised to tap the brakes, at least a little.

“It’s not about me,” Petrino said. “It’s about the offense and the input you get from all the assistants, the coach. We mold it together. We work hard on game planning. Then I get to go out in the game and decide on what play to call.

“When they boo and it’s a bad call, that’s my fault.”