Some good background here.
# ‘Made for it’: Lions OC Drew Petzing through the eyes of his coaching mentors
full article at link.
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The Cardinals never finished above .500 under Gannon, and while there’s context behind the outcome, Petzing’s offenses were far from elite.
The Cardinals ranked in the bottom half of the league in both points and yards in 2023 and 2025. Quarterback Kyler Murray missed the first nine weeks of 2023 while recovering from a torn ACL, and he appeared in only five games last season due to a foot injury. When Murray was available for all 17 contests in 2024, the Cardinals ranked 12th in points (23.5), 11th in yards (358.2) and eighth in EPA per play (+0.03).
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‘A really unique lens’
The Browns hired Stefanski to be their head coach after his one season as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator. Stefanski then brought Petzing to Cleveland, initially placing him in charge of the team’s tight ends for two seasons before shifting his responsibilities to quarterbacks in 2022.
Petzing coached three different position groups over the four seasons he overlapped with Stefanski calling plays. That varied approach was an intentional decision by Stefanski, who recognized Petzing’s acumen. The more position groups Petzing worked with, the more prepared he’d be to one day become a coordinator or head coach himself.
“You want coaches with a lot of potential,” Stefanski said. “Drew was somebody early on that you thought had the aptitude to handle a lot, had a good rapport with the players, had a great way about him throughout the building. … With continued experiences … along the offensive staff, that’s certainly building out a coach that has a great breadth to what they do.”
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turned to Stefanski to lead their offense, ranked eighth in points scored in 2019, the same year Gary Kubiak was brought in as an assistant head coach and offensive advisor. Petzing also received a notable promotion to wide receivers coach that season, in charge of a position group for the first time. Stefon Diggs went on to catch 63 passes for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns, all team-high marks.
“I’m going to pay (Petzing) a big compliment here, let me do it the right way," Kubiak said. "We had Stefon Diggs in Minnesota. Stefon’s a great player to this day. Coaching young personalities, guys that want the ball, you find out real quick whether (coaches) are going to be able to handle those types of things in the NFL, those types of players, those types of situations.
“For me, I know I was really hard on Drew on handling his room and coaching it the right way and having his players be disciplined in what we’re trying to do. … I was really, really hard on him. But, man, he responded. He’s always shown that he would be able to handle that type of stuff. … Drew can handle it. Drew can handle a room. Drew can handle the big picture. He can handle a head coach. He can handle the pressure. If you’re going to make it in this league, you’ve got to be able to do those things. That’s the biggest compliment I can pay him.”
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“When you come in like that … the way you climb up is you put your ego aside and you do whatever you’re asked to do and, more important than that, you anticipate what needs to be done and you do it before you’re asked. … When you come in … if the grease board, the chalkboard, whatever, is dirty, you clean it before someone asks you to do it. If the film’s been left on the table, you put it back in its slot. If guys need lunch, tell them, ‘I’ll go get it.’ Take their orders. Do whatever you can do to make this thing smoother,” Turner said.
“That’s kind of the approach that Drew took and has taken, and along the way seized every opportunity.”
The Browns cleaned house after a 4-12 record in 2013. Turner was picked up by the Vikings and first-time coach Mike Zimmer, and he was intent on bringing Petzing to Minnesota. Petzing received a promotion in the process, with his title being upgraded from intern to offensive assistant. Future coordinators on Zimmer’s inaugural staff (aside from Petzing) included Jonathan Gannon, Andrew Janocko, Klint Kubiak, Stefanski and Scott Turner.
Part of Petzing’s duties in his role next to Turner in the coach’s box during games was to help create an opening script for the second half. He’d make a list of strategies he thought would be effective based on what he’d seen from the defense through the first two quarters. Turner, who stressed his desire to consider input from each member of the coaching staff, would convene with his assistants in the locker room at halftime and take suggestions.