SAN FRANCISCO -- Jared Goff is set to break in his fourth offensive coordinator in six seasons with the Detroit Lions following the hire of Drew Petzing.
After joining the NFC's Pro Bowl Games roster as a replacement, Goff said Monday that he's pumped to immerse himself in the new scheme.
"Yeah, I've watched a ton of it," the QB said of Petzing's offense. "I'm excited, man. Been on the phone with him and gone through some things. He's very smart, very bright, can speak it, can say it, understands what I'm talking about. Really excited."
Petzing spent the past three seasons coordinating the Arizona Cardinals offense, which excelled as a rushing attack in his first two seasons, then skewed pass-heavy in 2025 after injuries decimated the Cards' attack.
The Lions offense had a wobbly 2025, with the hire of John Morton to replace Ben Johnson. Head coach Dan Campbell took over play-calling midway through the season, and Morton was fired at the end of the campaign.
Goff noted that Petzing's experience as a play-caller and his ability to run a diverse offense make it an intriguing hire.
"He's done it before. He's been a coordinator. He's called plays," Goff said. "And I think he was a home run hire. And I'm really excited for him."
Added Goff: "The way he's able to move things around and be versatile and the run game, the pass game, marrying it all together, I think that's another big component I didn't hit. Like that cohesion for us of like play action and all that stuff that we're so good at."
The 31-year-old QB said that while he wasn't part of the interview process, he was in contact with Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes during the hiring search. Goff said that everyone he's spoken to regarding Petzing, including Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett, has given "glowing reviews" about the new OC.
"In particular, quarterbacks who have played for him were glowing," the veteran QB said. "I think the thing that excites me the most is going to be his versatility. He's not tied to an offense. We're going to run what we're best at and what we should be doing. Some of the stuff we've done the last few years, that's worked."
Goff stressed that it's still early in the process, and the Lions won't fully dive into the offense until the offseason program gets into full swing, but he's excited about Petzing's ability to unlock the entirety of the Lions' potent offense.
"I think he's got the right personality and demeanor and teaching ability and, most importantly, his intelligence and mental dexterity, for lack of a better word, to be able to kind of handle not only, like, the complexities of what we're going to try to do but, like, getting the ball to guys," Goff said. "That's the hardest part of our offense. We have so many mouths to feed, and being able to spread it around in an efficient way. And that's just a pass game, right? Then you go to the run game, and I know that's something he's done well for a long time. But yeah, it's gonna be fun. I'm excited for him, and I'm excited to work with him."
Even with the play-calling issues, the Lions still boasted a potent offense in 2025, finishing in the top five in total offense, points scored and passing yards. However, with offensive line struggles, the running game didn't have a spectacular campaign, and the offense went through lulls that it hadn't experienced under Johnson.
Goff said he expects a more efficient offense under Petzing in 2026.
"Just consistency and efficiency. Yeah, that's really it. The years where we were really good, winning 12, 15 games. It was efficient. It was consistent," the Lions QB said. "We weren't really having like bad games where I felt like this year we had some bad games offensively. You're gonna have a bad play or a bad series, that's gonna happen. But being able to get back on track quickly is something that we need to be able to do. We know we have the players. We know we have everything we need in place. It's just consistency and raising our standard a little bit and level execution."
