Cleveland Browns lose QB Coach Drew Petzing

The Cleveland Browns will need to find a new quarterbacks coach as Drew Petzing is set to take the Cardinals OC job. 

The Cleveland Browns and head coach Kevin Stefanski will have a busy time replacing coaches this offseason. Quarterbacks coach Drew Petzing will take over as offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals according to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Petzing was seen as the favorite for this job ever since Jonathan Gannon took over as the Cardinals head coach last week.

Petzing becomes the third Browns positional coach to leave the team, putting a lot of pressure on Kevin Stefanski to make some good hires. Petzing joins defensive backs coach Jeff Howard (Chargers) and defensive line coach Chris Kiffin (Texans) as departures.

No doubt that new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will have a say in who fills the defensive openings, but Stefanski will have an interesting decision to make for the new quarterback’s coach. It will more than likely be filled from the inside as the Browns already have a top-notch QB coach on staff in offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. The question would be if Van Pelt wants the added responsibility.

Another internal candidate would be tight ends coach T.C. McCartney, who was the Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach in 2019. If McCartney takes over, the Browns could make Callie Brownson the new tight ends coach.

This will be an important hiring cycle for the Browns. With three openings the right or wrong hires could have a major impact on the success of next season. Cleveland will definitely want someone who Deshaun Watson feels comfortable with at QB coach as he’s in a big offseason in terms of resurrecting his career.