One of the quirkiest facts about new Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is that he is good friends with former Lions OC (and current Bears coach) Ben Johnson. He was even at Johnson’s wedding.
As it turns out—according to a great profile on Petzing from the Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett—Johnson was also at Petzing’s wedding, as the two remain close friends following their shared time at Boston College all the way back in 2010-11.
Birkett chatted with Johnson about the Lions’ hiring of Petzing, and the former Lions coordinator gave some high praise for the new Lions hire.
“I think he’s going to blow those players away just from a knowledge standpoint, from a connection standpoint,” Johnson said. “I fully expect that offense to be clicking at a high level next year. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit, and I think there’s a reason why Dan (Campbell), from what I could gather, cast a wide net for the offensive coordinator job and Drew hit the right notes in terms of what he was looking for.”
Johnson’s opinion obviously carries a ton of weight. Not only does he know Petzing well, but he knows exactly what Lions head coach Dan Campbell is looking for and the kind of people he works well with. He believes that pairing is going to work well in Detroit.
“I could see this being a great fit knowing Dan and knowing Drew both. I think it’s probably a match made in heaven,” Johnson said.
Pride of Detroit spoke with Petzing a few weeks ago, teasing the relationship between him and Johnson. Petzing didn’t want to feed Johnson any bulletin board material noting Johnson’s competitive nature. That said, he did get a little jab in.
“The only thing I said (to him) is I’m a better-looking Lions offensive coordinator,” Petzing joked.
Johnson, too, took the high road.
“I think it’s a really smart decision by Dan. It’s going to be hopefully not too big of a headache on us, but I see it being a really good match,” Johnson said.
The whole profile is definitely worth checking out over on Freep.com.
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