Bobby Petrino Passes His First Test for Texas A&M Football with Flying Colors

Yesterday marked media day for Texas A&M football, and, as always, multiple coaches as well as select players took the podium. Among the Aggie faithful, however, excitement—or perhaps simply anticipation—was high for one interview in particular. This would be the first time that Texas A&M football fans would be able to hear from the subject of one of the most controversial moves of the offseason—new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino.

Bobby P is a man whose reputation precedes him. Argumentative. Hotheaded. Pain to work with. Brilliant coach—but bad person. These are all things that most college football fans think of when they hear the man’s name. Thus, I am certain that many Aggies tuned into the press conference with a mix of intrigue and trepidation at how the proceedings might turn out, especially following a media cycle when the head coach has been more combative with reporters than usual.

Pleasantly surprising, however, was Petrino’s laid-back demeanor. He wasn’t ornery. He wasn’t combative. He, by all accounts, knocked it out of the park—not only with the softballs, but with the tougher questions too.

There are still those who try to spin his answers—even like the one above—into purported evidence of unrest among the ranks of the Texas A&M football staff. Such people are the kind that will believe what they want no matter what evidence is presented to them. By all accounts, the Petrino-Fisher combination has had not even the slightest hitch thus far. The two have meshed well and the hierarchy is clear. Petrino isn’t looking to subvert that—his own words have made that evident.

You can watch the full interview here. As I say, Petrino comes off impressively in his first appearance. Of course, this is the easy part. Giving the right answers to the press is one thing, but turning around the moribund Aggie offense of the past two years is quite another. It is the hope of every Aggie fan that Petrino can impress not only in the media room, but with his unit on the field as well. We’ll see just how far he has taken the Aggie offense soon enough.