Cardinals Vouch For OC Drew Petzing as HC Interviews Begin

Drew Petzing will be a great head coach some day, says Jonathan Gannon.

Sep 10, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon (left) hugs Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing before the game against the Washington Commander at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brent Skeen-Imagn Images / Brent Skeen-Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- Arizona Cardinals OC Drew Petzing is one of many names set to be interviewed for the Chicago Bears' head coaching vacancy.

Given how Arizona's season (and offense) unfolded down the final stretch of 2024, the interview request was a bit surprising to the outside world - but not for head coach Jonathan Gannon.

“No, not at all. Not one bit. I’m excited for Drew. The people that know, know," Gannon said with a smirk when asked if he was surprised by the news.

“The first thing is he knows how to teach. He’s got really good command. He can get the best out of people. He's extremely intelligent. I think he knows what's going on, and he's had some good experiences around a lot of good guys. I'm probably not one of them, but he's been trained the right way. He is intelligent, and he's got a growth mindset. He knows where he's really strong and where he needs help, and I think he'd do a really good job.”

Petzing just completed his second season as Arizona's offensive coordinator. After only having Murray for the second half of 2023, this year was the first full slate of games the OC-QB duo had together.

The Cardinals ultimately doubled their win total from last year, and when the dust settled on the regular season, Arizona's offense landed 11th in total yards per game at 358.2 and 12th in points per game with 23.5.

Current openings across the league include the Bears, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints.