Lions radio host says the quiet part out loud about fans' faith in Dan Campbell

There was a general groan heard out of Michigan once the Detroit Lions hired Drew Petzing to be their offensive coordinator in 2026.

That groan was valid for a few reasons. Firstly, Lions fans were likely expecting a bit more of a splashy signing for what feels like the coolest OC job available in the NFL. Getting to coach Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, and Amon-Ra St. Brown is quite a stepping stone. And it's one that the Lions saw fit to hand over to Petzing over Zac Robinson, Mike Kafka, and, most notably, Mike McDaniel.

Those groans were also much to St. Brown's chagrin, which compelled him to record quite possibly the most "moments before disaster"-type podcast episode of all time:

"I see crazy Lions fans talking crazy, like, 'Oh, why would we do this?' Like, bro, do you guys have no trust in Dan, in the Lions?" St. Brown said. "You think they would just hire a random dude? You think they don't know what they're doing, they don't do their research, they don't interview? Most of you guys don't know really much about anything, about any ball, and you're tweeting about a coach that was hired that you guys don't like because X, Y, Z."

Sure, the Lions fans that are complaining about this hire aren't, by and large, actual NFL players. That doesn't mean they aren't aware of just how weak Dan Campbell's hiring streak has been when it comes to offensive coordinators. And, that's a critique that 97.1 FM's The Ticket hit on during their Thursday show:

Lions radio hosts hit nail on the head about fans' hesitancy with Petzing hire

Anthony Lynn and John Morton are two huge dudes on Campbell's resume already, with Ben Johnson being the clear exception. It's valid that fans might've been expecting Campbell to bring on a well-known offensive mind this offseason.

While its already been reported that Campbell is not anticipating to keep play-calling duties to start the 2026 season, that doesn't mean he won't yank the responsibility away at some point, same as he did with Morton.

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If that happens again, it's going to be fuel for fans to clown St. Brown for having made just as big of a snap judgment on the hire as, maybe, fans have been making on the anti-hire side.

One thing's for sure, though: Campbell has not established enough goodwill amongst the fanbase with his hiring practices. Morton was a failure, Lynn was a failure, and the jury is truthfully still out on how well Kelvin Sheppard does in his role as the Lions' defensive coordinator in Year 2.

If Detroit plugs their holes on the offensive line and don't run out a slapped-together unit for Petzing to work with, and he still fails, it'll be another strike on Campbell's record as an evaluator of coordinator talent.