The Chicago Bears have listed a handful of head coaching candidates they have show interest in on both sides of the ball. Earlier on Monday, it was reported that the front office has initial interest in current Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. On Sunday, Pete Carroll was said to have “badly” wanted the opening in Chicago and has assistants ready to come with him if he were to land the gig. Now, another offensive mind will officially be interviewing with the Chicago Bears brass for the biggest opening in franchise history.
The Chicago Bears have requested to interview Drew Petzing
The Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator was officially requested for an interview by the Chicago Bears on Monday per a report from Ian Rapoport. The 2024 season was Petzing’s second overseeing the Cardinals offense with veteran quarterback Kyler Murray serving as the signal caller. The Cardinals finished the 2024 campaign with a 2-5 record and looking outside of a playoff spot in the NFC.
Prior to his current tenure with the Cardinals, Petzing has worked for two other NFL organizations. He began his time in the NFL as a football operations intern with the Cleveland Browns in 2013. From there, Petzing was with the Minnesota Vikings from 2014-19. With the Chicago Bears’ NFC North foe, Petzing was placed in various roles. He served as the team’s offensive assistant, assistant wide receivers coach, assistant quarterbacks coach and then the wide receiver for his final year in 2019.
After his time with the Vikings, Petzing latched back on with the Browns from 2020-2022. He was the tight ends coach in his first two years back with Cleveland, and was the quarterbacks coach in 2022 before getting hired by Arizona.
Despite Petzing having plenty of smaller roles and only two seasons as an offensive coordinator, his track record around the league shows he can adapt. It also portrays the fact that he is super versatile and has worked his way up to the top in a shorter amount of time. Many believe Petzing is the fastest rising candidate in terms of interest from organizations in the early going of this hiring cycle.
Drew Petzing can serve as the stability that Caleb Williams and the rest of the offense needs
Petzing is not the first offensive name that the Chicago Bears have reportedly had interest in over the past month. He joins Ben Johnson and Joe Brady as the current offensive coordinators that the team could interview in the coming weeks. There are now four offensive minds in total on the Chicago Bears radar after the Carroll rumor broke on Sunday.
On the defensive side of the ball, the front office has their fair share of candidates that they would like to chat with. These include Mike Vrabel, Aaron Glenn, Anthony Weaver and the aforementioned Joseph. Based on this hire being the biggest that the organization has ever had, Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren are making sure that they are open to anything when talking with candidates.
As for how Petzing would benefit the Chicago Bears, the fact that he’s an offensive minded coach is a fantastic start. The team needs the right guy in house to work with Caleb Williams as he enters his second NFL season. Establishing a strong foundation and not having to continually change play callers on the franchise quarterback should be the end goal for this hire and Petzing would at least give the team a shot at achieving that goal.
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