Jimbo Fisher

Texas A&M may have brought in Bobby Petrino as a high-profile offensive coordinator, but Jimbo Fisher's job security is not in question.

Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork told ESPN's Chris Low the school is feeling "no panic" after a 5-7 campaign in 2022.

"Build to last. That's my mantra," Bjork said. "There's no panic here. You can't be a blow-by-the-wind program in how you make decisions and expect to win championships in the SEC. Sure, last year was disappointing for all of us, but I look at where we're headed, and so does Jimbo."

The Aggies are 39-21 in Fisher's five seasons at the school. They peaked during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, going 9-1 and winning the Orange Bowl on their way to finishing fourth in the final Associated Press rankings.

The last two seasons have been major disappointments by comparison, with Texas A&M going 8-4 in 2021 and plummeting to 5-7 last season. It was Texas A&M's first losing season since 2009.

The addition of Petrino as offensive coordinator came as a direct result of the Aggies' offensive struggles in 2022 and led to speculation Fisher's job may not be safe. Petrino has nearly two decades' worth of college head coaching experience at Louisville, Arkansas, Western Kentucky and Missouri State.

"It was what was right for the program, the right time and the right guy," Fisher said of the Petrino hire. "It's something I had thought about a year or two before. I needed to be able to spend more time in other areas on our football team."

Fisher's contract runs through the 2031 season and would carry a $77 million buyout if he's fired after the 2023 campaign.

Texas A&M football head coach Jimbo Fisher is hiring UNLV offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino as the Aggies' offensive coordinator and play-caller, per ESPN's Chris Low.

Petrino spent the past three seasons as the head coach of Missouri State, a Division I-FCS program. The Bears went 18-15 under Petrino and made the NCAA tournament in 2020 and 2021.

After the 2022 season, Petrino reached an agreement to become UNLV's offensive coordinator, per Low and ESPN's Adam Rittenberg on Dec. 15.

However, those plans have reportedly changed. Petrino now looks to be headed back to the SEC, where he served as Arkansas' head coach from 2008-2011.

This isn't the first time Petrino has made a shocking exit during his coaching career.

Petrino signed a 10-year, $25.6 million contract in July 2006 to stay with Louisville, where he began coaching in 2003.

He led the Cardinals to a 12-1 record, an Orange Bowl win and a No. 5 Associated Press ranking in 2006 but then parlayed that season into jumping to the NFL and becoming the Atlanta Falcons' head coach.

That union lasted just 13 games. After starting the 2007 season 3-10, Petrino skipped town for the University of Arkansas.

Once again, Petrino shined on the college level, going 34-17 over four seasons. The 2011 campaign resulted in an 11-2 record, a No. 5 finish in the Associated Press poll and a Cotton Bowl victory.

However, Petrino was fired "with cause" on April 10.

Harrison Keegan of the Springfield News-Leader explained what happened.

"On April 1, 2012, Petrino was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in northwest Arkansas.

"Petrino initially told university officials he was alone on the motorcycle, but it eventually came out that he had a passenger—then-25-year-old Jessica Dorrell.

"In the coming days, it came to light that Petrino had an affair with Dorrell and he had hired the former Arkansas volleyball player to work in the athletics department after giving her a $20,000 gift. He had not previously disclosed his relationship with university officials."

Petrino landed the head coaching gig at Western Kentucky for the 2013 season and led the Hilltoppers to an 8-4 record. However, he left there after one year for a second stint at Louisville. The Cardinals won eight or nine games in each of his first four seasons before nosediving to 2-8 in 2018. The school parted ways with Petrino, who took a year off before joining Missouri State.

Now he joins an Aggies team that scuffled through a disappointing 5-7 campaign last year despite starting the season ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press poll. A six-game losing streak dropped the team to 3-7 before two late-season wins, including one over LSU.

The Aggies finished the year No. 101 out of 131 Division I-FBS teams in scoring.

Texas A&M football head coach Jimbo Fisher made his feelings clear about the amount of tampering going on in the NCAA's transfer portal as teams continue to navigate the NIL (name, image and likeness) era.

Fisher made his remarks during a National Signing Day press conference.

Fisher made it clear that he doesn't have any issue with players getting paid. Rather, he has a problem with the rules (or lack thereof) governing the system in place.

"I'm not saying being able to transfer is bad," Fisher said, per Dean Straka of 247Sports. "I'm not saying paying players bad. But the current status of the rules and the way it's done and how it's done? It's ridiculous. It's here. Everybody has the same issues and same problems."

He also expressed concern that teams who weren't abiding by the rules would continue to get rewarded.

"The ones that keep pushing the rules and breaking them will be rewarded," Fisher said. "And the others have to keep fighting, scratching and clawing to do things the right way. You can do it that way and win. Always have."

Fisher's own program went under the spotlight when Alabama head coach Nick Saban claimed that the Aggies "bought every player" in their No. 1 recruiting class of 2022.

"We didn't buy one player. A'ight?" Saban said last May, per Mike Rodak of AL.com. "But I don't know if we're going to be able to sustain that in the future, because more and more people are doing it. It's tough."

Fisher was so displeased with the comments that he soon called a press conference to address them. However, he said in October that the two had moved on.

Fisher also has a feud with Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who got involved in this ordeal after making some remarks about the Aggies' alleged NIL dealings.

"We don't have the funding resources as some schools with the NIL deals," Kiffin said, per ESPN's Dave Wilson. "It's like dealing with salary caps. I joked I didn't know if Texas A&M incurred a luxury tax with how much they paid for their signing class."

Fisher later called Kiffin and Saban "clown acts" in response.

Kiffin had his own take on Fisher's NIL comments from Thursday.

This was a tough year for Fisher's program, which endured a host of injuries en route to a 5-7 season and a last-place finish in the SEC West. Alabama went 10-2 and just missed out on the College Football Playoff. Ole Miss started 7-0 but lost four of its last five to end at 8-4.