The Lions may not be done picking from the Cardinals’ coaching staff
The Lions are going to need a new tight ends coach.
The Detroit Lions went out and got their next offensive coordinator when they hired Arizona Cardinals coordinator Drew Petzing on Monday. Petzing brings a lot to the table in terms of what the Lions want to be.
This will be a run-first offense that also features a heavy dose of tight-end-centered flavor. Don’t worry, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams will still get a ton of play, and they’ll thank this scheme for getting them open and getting them explosives.
We’ve already talked about how the Lions need to fix this offensive line and strengthen at tight end to get this done. One other thing that could really help is if the Lions added one of the better tight-end coaches to their staff, especially since the Lions lost their tight ends coach, Tyler Roehl, to Iowa State.
Lions could look to bring Cardinals’ tight end coach Ben Steele to Detroit with Drew Petzing
Steele and Petzing worked together in 2025 to help Trey McBride become a first-team All-Pro and arguably the best tight end in the NFL. Steele is not new to the NFL. He’s been a tight ends coach for the Buccaneers, when they won Super Bowl LV, and for the Atlanta Falcons under Dan Quinn before Quinn was fired.
Steele has also been an offensive line coach with the Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings. So there’s a hefty amount of experience there. Not to mention Steele played tight end in the NFL for six seasons. At the same time, Dan Campbell was doing it for what it was worth.
There are other options out there to watch, like Jon Embree, Tim Kelly, or Kevin Koger, but Steele has spent the last three years with Petzing and has a full understanding of what Petzing wants to do with 13 personnel and how Petzing wants to utilize tight ends in the pass game and run game. This one just makes a lot of sense. We’ll see soon enough what Detroit does.
Detroit Lions News
The Lions very quietly get everything they want and were asking for with their hire of Drew Petzing
This won’t grab headlines, but this is a solid move for the Lions
