Controversial Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will have a new position coach next season.
The Arizona Cardinals and new coach Jonathan Gannon have reportedly hired Browns quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing as the franchise’s next offensive coordinator.
Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com first reported the news, calling the hiring “expected.”
Petzing started his coaching career with the Harvard Crimson Wave in 2009 as a volunteer student assistant. He joined the professional ranks in 2013 with the Cleveland Browns as a football operations intern. He earned a full-time position as an offensive assistant with the Minnesota Vikings the following year.
He stayed with the Vikings until 2020, when he returned to the Cleveland Browns as a tight ends coach before becoming the quarterbacks coach in 2022.
“If Petzing leaves, Stefanski will either promote from within, such as moving T.C. McCartney from tight ends coach to quarterbacks, or hire someone from the outside,” Cabot speculated before the hiring bcame official. “A backup QB at LSU, McCartney helped primarily with quarterbacks as an offensive assistant in 2020 and 2021, and served as Broncos quarterbacks coach in 2019.”
Petzing also oversaw the Watson rehabilitation project after the quarterback served a 12-game suspension for gross sexual misconduct to begin the season. Watson threw for 1,102 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. He finished the season with a 38.3 QBR.
