The Lions Are Banking on Two Coordinators Who Haven’t Proven Much
There is a lot of pressure on the Detroit Lions to succeed in 2026, and a sizeable portion of the burden will fall on two coordinators with plenty to prove.
Drew Petzing enters his first season as the Lions’ offensive coordinator, replacing John Morton after a failed one-and-done campaign. And yes, I know what you’re thinking. Another offensive coordinator carousel year in Detroit. But before you start spiraling about the old days, remember who’s making these decisions now.
Petzing is coming off a three-year stint with the Arizona Cardinals, but it was an overall unsuccessful stint. The Cardinals went a mere 15-36 with Petzing leading the offense. That’s ugly any way you slice it. But there was plenty wrong with the Cardinals offense that was out of his control, from injuries and poor play plaguing Kyler Murray to having a roster among the worst in the NFL.
Petzing appears to be a coordinator respected by multiple people around the league, and the optimism is that his offense will click when surrounded with higher-caliber players. That optimism better be right, because this offense has too much talent to waste another year on coordinator growing pains.
Sheppard’s Defense: Good on Paper, Shaky When It Mattered
On the other side of the ball, Kelvin Sheppard returns to helm the defense for his second season. By Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, the Lions defense was ninth-best in the NFL last season, but there were many instances of the team not passing the eye test.
While Sheppard pitched a few gems against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles, the defense also fell apart in pivotal losses to the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers. Even though the defense boasted All-Pro talents like Aidan Hutchinson and Jack Campbell, it seemed like miscommunications were a weekly occurrence.
However, the defense was also historically injured last season. How much can a coach do to build cohesion when every position is bleeding players? Their starting cornerbacks were in and out of the lineup all season. Their former All-Pro safety missed most of the season with a knee injury, while also losing their other star safety in Week 14. Their star defensive tackle was still recovering from an ACL tear the season before.
The team had no consistent edge across from Hutchinson. All of these are factors that Sheppard had to deal with, not factors that he caused.
The Chess Pieces Are Still Missing
Both Petzing and Sheppard need to have successful seasons if the Lions are to make a serious playoff push. But if you’re asking which coordinator inspires more confidence right now, that’s a hell of a question.
Petzing is unfortunately still an unknown commodity. We can review his scheme, we can discuss praise from other players and coaches, but at the end of the day, you just cannot outright say you’re confident in Petzing given his track record. His failure in Arizona was probably more about an appalling depth chart than his ability as a coach, but we don’t know how good his coaching ability actually is either.
With Sheppard, you have to consider the circumstances he faced. When he has his chess pieces to work with, Sheppard can scheme up a good game plan. The key word is when, as Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch still have unknown timelines to return, while the health and performance of D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold have been rocky.
Because of the sheer talent on offense, the defense probably won’t wind up as the superior unit. The offense had a boat anchor at offensive coordinator last season yet still succeeded. However, Sheppard is the more trusted coordinator at this stage, and you’d have to bet on him getting the most out of this defense.
The Lions are banking on both coordinators figuring it out fast. In a division this loaded, there’s no time for learning curves.
Which coordinator do you trust more to not blow this thing up? Drop your take below because frankly, we’re all just guessing at this point.
