Petzing talking about his adaptability. I wrote about that more here.<\/a> <\/p>\nPetzing\u2019s history separates him from others<\/p>\n
We asked Petzing what he thinks separates him from other offensive coordinator candidates, and his reply broke down his exhaustive coaching history and his easy-to-see enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the confidence I go about the job with,\u201d Petzing started. \u201cIt\u2019s my background in a lot of different rooms. I was a receivers coach, I was a tight ends coach, I was a quarterbacks coach, and one of the key points about being an offensive coordinator is you\u2019ve got to be in charge of everything, and you have to hold people accountable. I think it helps having a diverse background on the offensive side of the ball to do that, because I\u2019ve had to coach the details of how to block wide zone on the front side with a tight end, or how to release vs. press as a receiver, or where a quarterback\u2019s eyes and where his feet should be (when I was) in the quarterback room. I think that was probably one of those things that I like to think shone through throughout the interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the other part of calling plays for three years, you start to figure out why you\u2019re doing things, how to highlight talent that you do or don\u2019t have. I think that\u2019s something that hopefully people were able to see throughout my three years there in Arizona. And I\u2019m hoping I\u2019m getting better every single game and every year I\u2019m doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jared Goff is \u2018another coordinator\u2019 for the offense<\/p>\n
When the topic of Jared Goff came up, Petzing got energized. It certainly seems like the Lions offensive coordinator is very excited to work with a veteran quarterback with immense talent and knowledge of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s as impressive of a quarterback as I\u2019ve seen watching tape \u2026 Coming into the interview process and watching the tape, I think you really start to really appreciate how good he really is and what level he\u2019s been playing at these last couple years,\u201d Petzing said. \u201cI think as a play-caller, as a coach really at any position on offense, when you have a guy that sees the game the way he does that can operate the way he does, the rhythm and the timing and the vision is really impressive\u2014and then having the physical tools to put the ball where it needs to be placed. To have touch, but also have some violence in his throwing motion. As you said, yes, he\u2019s a pocket passer, but he\u2019s made some great plays in the keeper game, on the move.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just so many things that I think he does at a really high level that, again, it all goes back to what puts stress on a defense? And when you know a guy can see the field, check in and out of plays, get in and out of the huddle, those are little thing that I think get taken for granted at times that really make a massive difference in how an offense operates and the success of a team. I think he\u2019s done that at such a high level for such a long time\u201d<\/p>\n
Petzing said Goff will be \u201cimmensely\u201d involved when it comes to building a scheme, and noted that having a veteran quarterback like him will make that process run smoother because of his intellect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a lot of ways, to me, a good quarterback\/play-caller relationship, he\u2019s another coordinator on staff. He\u2019s another coach on staff, because of how much time is required to play that position at a high level,\u201d Petzing said. \u201cWe don\u2019t do anything without the quarterback touching the ball, so everything we do has to be based around his skillset, making him comfortable, allowing him to see the game the way that he thinks he sees it best. And then I can do some things and involve some things that, \u2018Hey, you haven\u2019t done this, but I think this is going to fit really well.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Petzing likes David Montgomery a lot<\/p>\n
Lions running back David Montgomery\u2019s standing with the team remains in limbo after general manager Brad Holmes admitted they\u2019d be open to trading him if the veteran back wanted to go somewhere where he\u2019d believe they\u2019d utilize him better. Last week at the Super Bowl, Montgomery seemed enthusiastic about returning to the team after talking to Petzing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted to ensure me, to let me know that he wants me to be a part of it,\u201d Montgomery told Chris Simms. \u201cYeah, I\u2019m excited to see what\u2019s next and see what kind of happens now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked for Petzing\u2019s point of view of that conversation, and while he mostly deflected the question, he did offer high praise of Montgomery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI obviously watched him play in this offense for a number of years and think he brings a lot to the table,\u201d Petzing said. \u201cA lot like (Jahmyr) Gibbs, he\u2019s a dynamic back who can affect the game with the ball in his hands. He\u2019s really a three-down back. There\u2019s not a lot you\u2019re going to look at him and say, \u2018He can\u2019t do this\u2019 or \u2018He can\u2019t do that.\u2019 So that\u2019s all I said. I said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m excited to work with you. I can\u2019t wait to get you into the building,\u2019 and that\u2019s where I\u2019m going to leave it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why Petzing prefers to coach from the sideline, not booth<\/p>\n
As an offensive coordinator for the Cardinals, Petzing worked on the sideline rather than up in the booth. It seems like that will continue in Detroit, although Petzing did mention he may try the booth for a preseason game.<\/p>\n
As to why he prefers the sideline, Petzing offered a thoughtful answer:<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunication was easier down with the quarterback,\u201d Petzing said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re up, it\u2019s a little bit harder to have quick conversations. I can\u2019t have one-offs. I can\u2019t do that. I got a little removed. Some people can do a really good job with it. For me, I was better suited on the sidelines. I also caught myself watching the game more than I\u2019d like to watch it from the booth. Whereas down on the sideline, I\u2019m kinda like looking at things, understanding where things are at, but I\u2019m able to process faster and move on.\u2018<\/p>\n
Petzing loves 13 personnel\u2026 but you need to have the right players<\/p>\n
A lot of the conversation around Petzing\u2019s hiring has been surrounding his high use of 13 personnel\u2014or three tight end sets. After Rams coach Sean McVay popularized the formation this year with a strong run game and very effective play-action, the public has become infatuated with the strategy. But Petzing has been doing it for years\u2014albeit at a smaller scale. He explained why he likes the strategy, but also warned that if the Lions don\u2019t have the personnel to run it, they aren\u2019t going to.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have three tight ends that don\u2019t have a multiple skill set, you\u2019re not going to do it,\u201d Petzing said. \u201cBecause the key is the matchups. When you have guys that can do a lot of different things, you can start to dictate things based on what the defense wants to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as the game has evolved defensively over the last 5-7 years, you\u2019re starting to see more and more different defensive personnels. It\u2019s not just, \u2018Hey, we\u2019ve got base. Hey, we\u2019ve got nickel. Here we go, this is it.\u2019 You\u2019re seeing different variations of base, different variations of nickel\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, in 13 personnel, you have to be able to deal with everybody in the box and multiple gaps that you weren\u2019t ready to account for. And then if you get big, I can spread things out and create people that you don\u2019t want to have in space in space. So it allows you to dictate to the defense a little bit more some of the things that they have been trying to dictate to us based on who they\u2019re putting on the field. It gives you the freedom to jump back and forth without being predictable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you missed it on Thursday afternoon, we had the pleasure to interview Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Drew…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":749163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,153,1889,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-749162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroit-lions-news","11":"tag-detroit-lions-quotes","12":"tag-detroitlions","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-lions","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116063184190465048","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749162","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=749162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/749163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}