In what is now five seasons as the Detroit Lions' head coach, Dan Campbell has finished two of them as the offensive play caller. That is obviously not ideal, especially when Ben Johnson used his three seasons in-between as offensive coordinator as his resume to become the Chicago Bears' head coach in 2025.
In the search to replace Johnson as his offensive coordinator, Campbell landed on John Morton. Since he had spent the two seasons as the passing game coordinator for the Denver Broncos under Sean Payton (one of Campbell's coaching mentors), and he was on the Lions' staff in 2022, Morton might as well have been an internal promotion.
However, it was possible to wonder just how philosophically aligned Campbell and Morton would be.
The Lions' offense remained very good last season. But there were atypical ups and downs, and it always felt like was something was missing compared to the years under Johnson. Some of that prior juice was recaptured when Campbell took over the play calling.
Campbell is about as far from the hot seat as an NFL head coach can get. That said, 2026 season is a big one for him and the Lions. More specifically, getting his offensive coordinator hire right this time is incredibly important.
Favorite offseason move for the Lions says something about Dan Campbell
Mike Sando of The Athletic has named his favorite offseason move for each NFL team. For the Lions, he went fairly broad with "making outside hires to lead the offensive staff."
'Though the Lions’ offense remained strong statistically after coordinator Ben Johnson’s departure to Chicago in 2025, coach Dan Campbell demoted and fired Johnson’s replacement, John Morton, who had been on Campbell’s staff in 2022. Hiring Drew Petzing as offensive coordinator and Mike Kafka as passing game coordinator brings fresh thinking to Detroit as the team navigates roster attrition. Petzing and Kafka have interviewed for head-coaching jobs during recent cycles, an indication they have something new to offer the Lions."
Before news he was being hired as the Lions' offensive coordinator surfaced, there were no reports Petzing had interviewed for the job. That invited skepticism about Campbell wanting to maintain a high level of influence on the offense, and perhaps not being willing to offer someone, like, as an example, former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, full autonomy even if they're calling the plays.
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Kafka was among those who interviewed for the Lions' offensive coordinator post, and he was later added to the staff as the passing game coordinator. His experience as a quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator and interim head coach stands to add great value to the situation.
As a practical matter, Petzing is Campbell's first offensive coordinator hire from outside the organization since he hired Anthony Lynn as part of his initial Lions' staff in 2021. Kafka has a tie to Campbell through former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll, but that's the only previous coaching tie to Campbell he or Petzing has.
Time will tell if the hires of Petzing and Kafka work out. Campbell hiring them is a notable step in his evolution though, and more proof of the effort to shake things up after a disappointing 2025 season.
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