The Detroit Lions are filling their biggest coaching hole heading into the 2026 season, tabbing former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing for their open offensive coordinator role.
The Free Press confirmed the Lions’ plan to hire Petzing on Monday, Jan. 19, though the hiring has yet to be made official. The move comes nearly two weeks after the Lions fired former offensive coordinator John Morton after one season on the job.
Petzing, 38, brings an interesting background to the Lions, as he has no connection to Lions coach Dan Campbell but has a strong connection with former Lions offensive coordinator (and current Chicago Bears coach) Ben Johnson. And while Petzing’s on-paper performance with the Cardinals may seem underwhelming, there are signs from his three seasons as coordinator that likely appealed to the Lions’ OC hiring committee of Campbell, general manager Brad Holmes and special assistant to the president Chris Spielman.
Here are five things to know about Petzing, the Lions’ new OC.
1. Drew Petzing’s coaching career started in the Ivy League
After graduating from Division III Middlebury College in Vermont, Petzing began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with Harvard’s football team in 2009. He also served as Yale’s outside linebackers coach in 2012 before making the jump to the NFL as an intern with the Cleveland Browns in 2013.
But before Petzing got to Yale, he served for two seasons as a graduate assistant at Boston College from 2010-11, where he spent time with a young Johnson, also a graduate assistant at the time.
2. Drew Petzing is good friends with Ben Johnson
Petzing may not have many connections with current Lions coaches, but his connection with Johnson is more than just a professional one: They became such good friends that Petzing was in Johnson’s wedding.
“I think of a guy that was in my wedding, one of my best men was Drew Petzing, who is the coordinator for Arizona,” Johnson said at a news conference earlier in the 2025 season.
Johnson, however, admitted their relationship didn’t start off on the best foot.
“I think he would tell you the first two months that we were together at Boston College we didn’t say a whole lot to each other. It’s kind of how it is sometimes,” he said.
3. Drew Petzing presided over Kyler Murray’s improvement
The Cardinals hired Petzing to be their offensive coordinator in 2023, one year after franchise quarterback Kyler Murray was coming off his career-worst season by passer rating (87.2). And after an injury-shortened 2023, Murray bounced back with an impressive campaign in 2024.
Murray completed nearly 69% of his passes and had a career-best 51.7% passing success rate, putting up arguably the most efficient season of his career. He finished the season with a 63.4 QBR, the best of his career, as the Cardinals fell short of a playoff berth in a crowded NFC West race.
Murray was hurt for much of the 2025 season, appearing in only the first five games of the season before suffering a season-ending foot injury. But even without Murray under the center, the Cardinals offense still showed some quality in 2025.
4. Cardinals had top-10 passing offense in 2025
Though the Cardinals finished 23rd in the NFL in points per game (20.9) in 2025, it was not the fault of their passing attack, which was seventh in the league at 232.6 yards per game. Even more impressive was Arizona’s passing success with journeyman backup Jacoby Brissett, who started 12 games for the Cardinals and finished with a career-high 23 touchdowns and 3,366 passing yards. (Arizona did do much of its damage after falling behind big while losing its final nine games, and failed to score more than 24 points in all nine.)
And Murray wasn’t the only playmaker missing from Arizona’s 2025 offense. The Cardinals also played much of the season without starting running back James Connor (14 missed games) and receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (five missed games), arguably the team’s two most important offensive playmakers.
Arizona’s running game under Petzing showed some quality, with the Cardinals averaging 139.1 rushing yards per game in 2023 (fourth in the NFL) and improving to 144.2 yards per game in 2024 (seventh in the NFL). There was a big dropoff in 2025, however, with the Cardinals averaging 93.1 rushing yards per game in 2025 (31st in the NFL).
5. Drew Petzing will be 4th Lions OC under Dan Campbell
Campbell will be entering his sixth season as Lions coach, with four offensive coordinators under him in those six years.
His first offensive coordinator, Anthony Lynn, was hired in 2021 but Campbell stripped him of play-calling duties during the season and fired Lynn at the end of the season. Johnson was promoted in 2022 and led one of the league’s top offenses for the next three seasons before taking the Bears coaching job. Morton, who was on the 2022 staff, was hired and lasted only a season, with Campbell also stripping him of play-calling midway through the season.
For a team as recently successful as the Lions have been, that’s a lot of coordinators who have come and gone in a short span. Perhaps the Lions will have a bit more patience with Petzing than they did with Morton, especially since Petzing will likely take the play-calling duties from Campbell.
One thing is for sure, however – the Lions are hoping not to be looking for another offensive coordinator in 2027.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lions OC Drew Petzing was in Ben Johnson wedding, helped Kyler Murray
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
