{"id":701157,"date":"2026-01-24T09:39:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T09:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/701157\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T09:39:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T09:39:22","slug":"report-detroit-lions-assistant-had-major-influence-in-the-drew-petzing-hire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/701157\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Detroit Lions Assistant Had Major Influence in the Drew Petzing Hire"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Detroit Lions<\/a> began their search for a new offensive coordinator, the decision wasn\u2019t made in a vacuum. While head coach Dan Campbell<\/a> ultimately signs off on every hire, one longtime assistant carried significant influence behind the scenes: offensive line coach and run game coordinator Hank Fraley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The connection between Fraley and new OC Drew Petzing<\/a> goes back years, and that familiarity played a major role in Detroit\u2019s comfort level with the hire.<\/p>\n

\"Hank<\/p>\n

Hank Fraley Drew Petzing Lions<\/p>\n

The Fraley\u2013Petzing Connection<\/p>\n

Fraley and Petzing worked together on the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff from 2014 through 2016, building a shared football language and philosophy that still carries weight today. That history mattered when Detroit began evaluating candidates to take over the offense.<\/p>\n

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Fraley has been on the Lions staff since 2018 and has become one of the most trusted voices in the building. Last offseason, the organization worked aggressively to keep him from leaving for a coordinator role elsewhere, underscoring just how highly he is valued.<\/p>\n

Albert Breer Explains Why Fraley\u2019s Voice Carried Weight<\/p>\n

Sports Illustrated NFL insider Albert Breer detailed just how important Fraley\u2019s input was in the process \u2014 and why Petzing emerged as such a natural fit.<\/p>\n

Here is Breer\u2019s full quote via Lions OnSI:<\/p>\n

\u201cEx-Cardinals OC Drew Petzing arrives in Detroit with a strong link to line coach\/running-game coordinator Hank Fraley, who worked with Petzing in Minnesota from 2014 to \u201916. The Lions worked hard to keep Fraley from going to Seattle to be a coordinator last year, and so Fraley\u2019s input in their next steps on offense was always going to be important. And as such, his word carried a lot of weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

That statement says everything about how this hire came together.<\/p>\n

Why Dan Campbell Valued Familiarity<\/p>\n

Dan Campbell has always emphasized trust, alignment, and culture fit when building his staff. Fraley\u2019s endorsement of Petzing gave the organization confidence that:<\/p>\n

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The offensive line philosophy would remain intact<\/p>\n

The run game identity would stay physical and aggressive<\/p>\n

Communication between the coordinator and the trenches would be seamless<\/p>\n

The offensive staff would be unified from Day 1<\/p>\n

Rather than chasing an outside splash hire, the Lions leaned into continuity and internal chemistry \u2014 trusting one of their most respected assistants to help guide the decision.<\/p>\n

What It Means for Detroit\u2019s Offense<\/p>\n

Everything in Detroit\u2019s offense begins with the offensive line, and Fraley\u2019s unit is the engine of the entire operation. Bringing in a coordinator he already trusts and understands helps preserve the identity that helped push the Lions into Super Bowl contention.<\/p>\n

In short, Drew Petzing wasn\u2019t just Dan Campbell\u2019s choice.
He was Hank Fraley\u2019s guy, too.<\/p>\n

And in this building, that matters.<\/p>\n

The post Report: Detroit Lions Assistant Had Major Influence in the Drew Petzing Hire<\/a> appeared first on Detroit Sports Nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Detroit Lions began their search for a new offensive coordinator, the decision wasn\u2019t made in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[7453,6214,146,113,2506,24101,7,3338,147,259,31835,6,2976,13240,237],"class_list":["post-701157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-albert-breer","tag-dan-campbell","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroitlions","tag-drew-petzing","tag-football","tag-hank-fraley","tag-lions","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-new-offensive-coordinator","tag-nfl","tag-offensive-line-coach","tag-petzing","tag-seattle"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115949416102854492","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}