Texas A&M is hiring UNLV offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino as its next offensive coordinator, according to a Wednesday afternoon report from Chris Low of ESPN.
Petrino, who will replace fired offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey on coach Jimbo Fisher’s staff, departs Las Vegas after just 20 days with the Rebels. He was named UNLV’s offensive coordinator Dec. 15 under new coach Barry Odom.
The Aggies averaged just 22.8 points per game this season, ranking 101st out of 131 FBS programs.
Petrino has had an eventful, well-traveled coaching career. His first stint at Louisville brought some of the Cardinals’ greatest heights—including a No. 5 final ranking in 2006—but ended in an abrupt departure for the Falcons in 2007. He led Atlanta to a 3–10 start before suddenly taking the Arkansas job, which yielded back-to-back 10-win seasons but ended with his firing for misleading the university about his relationship with a staffer.
Reviving his career with a brief stopover at Western Kentucky in 2013, he returned to Louisville for five seasons, coaching quarterback Lamar Jackson to the Heisman Trophy in 2016. Unable to recreate that year’s magic, he was fired in November ’18 and wound up with Missouri State from ’20 to ’22. He led the Bears to two FCS playoff appearances.
Texas A&M’s staff now includes Petrino, defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin and offensive line coach Steve Addazio, three coaches with checkered off-field records. Durkin was fired as Maryland’s head coach in 2018 after the death of Terrapins offensive lineman Jordan McNair, and an investigation found that Addazio “likely” made a racist comment to a Colorado State custodian in October ’20.
