Detroit Lions 2026

[edj]

OC interviews are occurring soon. Two candidates mentioned are Bengals Zac Robinson and perhaps the worst choice of those established, Steelers OC Arthur Smith.

[moldyoldie]

I guess I'll be pulling for Mike McDaniel, despite his probable one-and-done status. He recently stated he'd prefer an outstanding coordinator position as opposed to a poor head coaching situation. If he can have a halfway decent O-line, a big if at this point, he'll already have a full bevy of offensive weapons as he did in Miami...and a quarterback!

Zac Robinson has that previous relationship with Goff as his quarterbacks coach with the Rams; I suppose that counts for something. BTW, he's with the Falcons.

[edj]

You’re right, I was thinking of Zac Taylor who is still head coach of the Bengals.

[Honeyman]

Lions hire.....wait fot it.....Drew Petzing from the Cardinals as their new OC.

[bmw]

And before Arizona he was with Cleveland for 2 years as their tight end coach.

This is the best they could do?

[teetoppz28]

I don't usually listen to the tiny one's show, but I was curious how he'd react to the new OC hiring... Yeah, he's BIG mad and having an epic meltdown. LOL!

[MWmetalhead]

I don't blame him!

This hire is fucking terrible, at least on paper.

We went from Mike McDaniel as the leading candidate to this shmuck?

McDaniel will probably join Tampa Bay.

SAME...OLD...LIONS!!!

[moldyoldie]

Listen, did any of you SOLers know one iota of who Ben Johnson was when he was named our OC? I'll tell you, he was a quarterbacks coach and receivers & tight ends coach among other things for the then LAST PLACE Miami Dolphins before being in a similar position with the then RISING Lions. Now some of you think he's the very paragon of coaching excellence!

Petzing engineered a fine highly ranked offense for the Cardinals in 2024. This year the Cardinals offense was wracked by injuries including their starting QB. FWIW, I don't think much of Kyler Murray anyway.

Remember when the SOLers were praising the hiring of the vaunted Mike Martz as OC, the engineer of "The Greatest Show on Turf"? How the hell did THAT work out!

Give the guy some horses to work with and let's see what he comes up with.

[Matt]

I don't blame him!

This hire is fucking terrible, at least on paper.

We went from Mike McDaniel as the leading candidate to this shmuck?

McDaniel will probably join Tampa Bay.

SAME...OLD...LIONS!!!

McDaniel was never a leading candidate in Detroit.

[MWmetalhead]

I don't blame him!

This hire is fucking terrible, at least on paper.

We went from Mike McDaniel as the leading candidate to this shmuck?

McDaniel will probably join Tampa Bay.

SAME...OLD...LIONS!!!

McDaniel was never a leading candidate in Detroit.

Reports suggested he was the guy in which the Lions had the most interest.

I realize multiple teams were vying for him.

Coin flip as to whether he accepts one of the open OC gigs or one of the open HC gigs.

[MWmetalhead]

Listen, did any of you SOLers know one iota of who Ben Johnson was when he was named our OC? I'll tell you, he was a quarterbacks coach and receivers & tight ends coach among other things for the then LAST PLACE Miami Dolphins before being in a similar position with the then RISING Lions. Now some of you think he's the very paragon of coaching excellence!

Petzing engineered a fine highly ranked offense for the Cardinals in 2024. This year the Cardinals offense was wracked by injuries including their starting QB. FWIW, I don't think much of Kyler Murray anyway.

Remember when the SOLers were praising the hiring of the vaunted Mike Martz as OC, the engineer of "The Greatest Show on Turf"? How the hell did THAT work out!

Give the guy some horses to work with and let's see what he comes up with.

I hope you're right, and I never understood the media's praise of Martz.

I won't say Johnson is the paragon of coaching excellence, but he's certainly better than Dan Campbell.

[MWmetalhead]

Here's what a poster on the Detroit News comments page (viewable by digital subscribers only) wrote:

This guy has never had more than a middling offensive rank. He's a run first guy who bases his offenses largely on the rpo. In case anyone is unaware, that's not jared's strength. And that's a massive understatement.

On its face this makes zero sense.

[edj]

Sounds a lot like Arthur Smith, another terrible OC.

Time will tell but as of now this is a terrible hire.

[Honeyman]

[moldyoldie]

It was a mixed bag for Petzing's offenses in the desert. He led a top-eight offense in 2024 with a 0.3 EPA per play. However, a rash of injuries, including at quarterback and running back, and an inconsistent offensive line sank them to 24th in EPA per play in 2025 (-0.6). With zero running game, the Cards became a pass-happy offense with backup Jacoby Brissett under center.

https://www.nfl.com/news/lions-hiring-f ... eir-new-oc

It's no secret Campbell wants a "run first" offense with explosive plays run off of play action. I'm sure that was discussed in the interview and in the phone conversation between Petzing and Goff that reportedly took place. That Detroit News commenter Mr. Metalhead posted above seems to think that the Lions braintrust are senseless, that an OC known for RPO (Kyler Murray is an RPO QB) can't design an offense around a pure drop-back QB. Fans can be idiots.

Job #1: Fix the offensive line!