Lions hire Drew Petzing from Cardinals as new offensive coordinator

The Detroit Lions have made their big offseason hire. They moved on from John Morton as the offensive playcaller after one season, trying to replace Ben Johnson. Now, Dam Campbell has his new guy on offense. The Lions have hired Drew Petzing as the offensive coordinator, fresh off a stint in the same role with the Arizona Cardinals.

The #Lions are hiring former #AZCardinals OC Drew Petzing as their new offensive coordinator, per me and @TomPelissero.

An extensive search leads Dan Campbell to an experienced play-caller for his offense. pic.twitter.com/Q9bcQvDlkn

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 19, 2026

“The Lions are hiring former Cardinals OC Drew Petzing as their new offensive coordinator, per me and Tom Pelissero,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported. “An extensive search leads Dan Campbell to an experienced play-caller for his offense.”

The Lions missed the playoffs in their first year without Johnson calling the plays, while he led the Chicago Bears to the Divisional Round. Now, Petzing comes in to work alongside Jared Goff and an all-star cast of weapons.

Petzing was hired by the Cardinals ahead of the 2023 season, Jonathan Gannon’s first as the head coach. Arizona never reached the playoffs in Petzing’s run there, which ended with Jacoby Brisset starting most of the games. One silver lining for Lions fans is the greatness of Trey McBride, who set the all-time record for catches by a tight end last year. Lions tight end Sam LaPorta could be in line for a breakout.

The pressure is on for the Lions to make the most of this competitive window they have. When they lost the NFC Championship Game in January 2024, Campbell famously said, “This may have been our only shot.” After a Divisional Round loss to the Commanders last year and a disappointing campaign in 2025, that has been true. It is now on Petzing to get the offense on track.

While the Lions missed the playoffs, they were awfully close to stealing a spot. Can Petzing learn from his Cardinals stint while getting the most out of Goff and Detroit?

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