CARDINALS CORNER

Arizona Cardinals hiring Browns QBs coach Drew Petzing as OC

Feb 19, 2023, 7:50 AM | Updated: Feb 21, 2023, 2:40 pm
Minnesota Vikings wide reivers coach Drew Petzing is seen during the second half of an NFL football...
Minnesota Vikings wide reivers coach Drew Petzing is seen during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Detroit, Michigan USA, on Sunday, October 20, 2019 (Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Cardinals are hiring Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing as Arizona’s offensive coordinator, the team announced Tuesday.

The NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero first repoted the news.

The report came a day after the news of the Cardinals reportedly hiring former Philadelphia Eagles linebackers coach Nick Rallis as defensive coordinator.

The Petzing hire reunites the new OC with Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon after the duo spent four seasons together as members of the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff from 2014-17.

Petzing, 35, will now be tasked with getting the most out of quarterback Kyler Murray and the rest of the offense following a disastrous 2022 that saw the signal caller go down with a season-ending knee injury.

“I have a very specific vision of how I want to play on offense, and the person that comes in here to run the offense is going to understand that everything that we do will be structured around the quarterback position to maximize his skillset — and we have an elite one,” Gannon said during his introductory press conference last Thursday.

“We also have some elite players at different positions already on the roster that I’m very excited to work with, and that’s what we’re going to do. Just an overall general philosophy of being adaptable and we’re going to maximize Kyler’s skillset.”

Petzing just wrapped up his first season as the Browns QBs coach after working with Cleveland’s tight ends the last two years.

In 2022, Petzing worked with Jacoby Brissett and Deshaun Watson. In 11 starts before Watson was reinstated from suspension, Brissett completed 64% of his throws for 2,608 yards and 12 touchdowns to six interceptions. He also scored on the ground twice. Despite not getting a full season of work, Brissett turned in one of his better years as a pro.

Before his most recent stint with the Browns, Petzing spent six seasons with the Vikings as an offensive assistant (2014-15), assistant wide receivers coach (2016-17), assistant QBs coach (2018) and WRs coach (2019).

His introduction into the NFL coaching world was as a football operations intern with the Browns in 2013.

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