Dan Campbell hired his fourth different offensive coordinator during his time as the Detroit Lions head coach on Monday.
After just one season with John Morton as its offensive coordinator, the Lions are hiring former Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing as its next OC. It ends a nearly two-week search for Morton’s replacement.
For anyone curious if Petzing will indeed serve as the Lions’ new offensive play-caller, one ESPN report says yes. That was a topic of conversation surrounding this Detroit OC hire after Campbell took over offensive play-calling duties for the final nine games of last season after relieving Morton of offensive play-calling just eight games into 2025.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Petzing should be in an offensive play-calling capacity in Detroit. Per Fowler, the expectation during OC interviews was that Campbell would relinquish offensive play-calling duties over to whoever the organization hired as its next OC.
This should be a playcalling job for new Lions OC Drew Petzing. The expectation during OC interviews is that Dan Campbell would relinquish playcalling for the new guy.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 19, 2026
While this seemed the most logical destination for Campbell and Detroit, Campbell did keep the door open initially about retaining offensive play-calling duties in his end-of-season news conference.
“I mean, I’m open to anything. I don’t know exactly where I’m at with that yet. I mean, I guess one of the good things if I did do that, you don’t have to worry about somebody else leaving. You don’t have to worry about your playcaller leaving. So, that would be one of the perks of it.
“But listen, I’m going to think through all of that, and I think I really want to do what I feel is best for the team. And that included, if I believe that’s what’s best for us and I feel good about it, then I will. If I just feel like, ‘Eh,’ then I won’t do it. I won’t do it,” Campbell said on Jan. 5.
But, it certainly appears as though Campbell is handing the offensive reins completely over to Petzing.
During his three-year run in Arizona, the Cardinals ranked second in the NFL in yards per carry in both the 2023 (5.0) and 2024 (5.3) seasons. Arizona led the NFL in rushes of 20-plus yards in 2023 with 23 runs of 20 yards or more. The Cardinals also tied for the NFL lead with seven runs of 40-plus yards during the 2024 campaign.
Arizona finished with the NFL’s No. 19, No. 11 and No. 19 total offenses and the league’s No. 24, No. 12 and No. 23 scoring offenses across the 2023-25 seasons.
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: ESPN report: Expectation is Lions OC Drew Petzing will call plays
