Drew Petzing enters his first season with the Lions in 2026. He has spent more than a decade coaching nearly every position on the offensive side of the football. Petzing's wealth of experience and thorough approach to the fine details were among the many things that attracted Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell to him.
"The first thing that drew me to him was his tape," Campbell said. "I loved the fact that when you really watch his tape, he's about the matchups, man, and he's finding them wherever he can find them. When you listen to him, and you sit down with him, and you listen to him talk, he understands quarterback play. He understands tight ends. He understands O-line. He understands receivers because he's coached all of those. So, he can coach it from the ground up."
Prior to Detroit, Petzing spent three seasons (2023-25) as the Arizona Cardinals' offensive coordinator. With Petzing's oversight, the Cardinals possessed a high-level rushing attack. Petzing's first season in Arizona helped propel the Cardinals to finish fourth in the NFL in rushing (2,365 yards) and second in rushing average (5.02). During the 2023 season, Arizona also rushed for 200 yards in a league-high four games. Petzing's offense allowed RB James Conner to flourish. He orchestrated an offense that allowed Conner to notch his first career 1,000-yard rushing season in 2023, before Conner again reached the milestone under Petzing in 2024. Petzing's first season leading Arizona's offense also marked just the second time since 1970 that the Cardinals had a top-five rushing offense in the NFL. In addition to the rushing attack, TE Trey McBride established himself as one of the top tight ends in the NFL within Petzing's offense. McBride recorded 1,000 receiving yards in back-to-back seasons (2024-25) in addition to earning two Pro Bowl selections and one AP All-Pro selection. In 2024, McBride recorded the secondmost receiving yards in the NFL amongst tight ends. He followed his 2024 campaign up in 2025 by leading all tight ends in receiving yards and recording the second-most receiving touchdowns in the NFL amongst all positions. With QB Kyler Murray missing significant time due to injury in 2025, Petzing helped QB Jacoby Brissett establish new career highs in both passing touchdowns and completion percentage.
Before his time with the Cardinals, Petzing spent two seasons (2020-21) coaching tight ends and one season (2022) coaching quarterbacks for the Cleveland Browns. In his final season with Cleveland, Petzing coached Brissett, who started 11 games and posted then-career highs in completion percentage and passer rating. QB Deshaun Watson returned in the 2022 season to start the final six games of the season and threw for 1,102 yards and seven touchdowns. When overseeing the tight ends in Cleveland, 36 Petzing's group helped the Browns become the only team in the NFL in 2021 to have at least three different tight ends each record at least three TDs. His position group also helped Cleveland lead the NFL in rushing average in 2021, the highest rushing average for the team since 1966 at the time.
During his time in Minnesota, Petzing was a part of a coaching staff that helped the Vikings secure two NFC North division titles (2015 & 2017), an NFC Championship berth in the 2017 postseason, and a Wild Card berth in 2019. In his first season (2019) overseeing Minnesota's wide receivers, Petzing helped WR Stefon Diggs set a then career-high with 1,130 receiving yards. While working with QB Kirk Cousins as an assistant quarterbacks coach, Petzing helped Cousins set a team record for completions. Cousins also threw for the third-most passing yards, had the second-highest completion percentage, and recorded the fourth-highest passer rating by a Vikings player in team history. When he first joined the Vikings in 2014, Petzing began as a coaching assistant, working primarily in the running backs room. He later became an assistant wide receivers coach, where he was instrumental in the development of WR Adam Thielen, who began his career as an undrafted rookie free agent. In 2017, Thielen made his first Pro Bowl and was a second-team All-Pro selection.
A Wellesley, Massachusetts native, Petzing began his coaching career as a student assistant in the collegiate ranks at his alma mater, Middlebury College. He spent his first two years at Middlebury as a defensive back before injuries cut short his playing career. He graduated in 2009 with a degree in Economics and minors in Math and Philosophy. His brother, Dean, is an offensive assistant coach with the Carolina Panthers. He and his wife, Louisa, have a daughter, Emilia, and a son, Owen.
