Nick Rallis has known Drew Petzing for a long time. They were on the same staff in Minnesota, and of course they were the coordinators under Jonathan Gannon for the Cardinals from 2023-25.
Petzing is gone, albeit returning to Arizona Sunday with the Detroit Lions as offensive coordinator, facing Rallis, who remained with the Cardinals.
"You take that information in with your game planning but you also have to figure out what is relevant there," Rallis said. "New players, scheme is a little different, different coaching staff around him. You've got to be able to filter out, but there are definitely nuances of our history. I'm sure he's got his thoughts of us going head-to-head in practice for three years."
The Lions have kept chunks of what they had pre-Petzing, but "you see Drew's wrinkles," Rallis said.
"People are going to have their narratives probably about it, including us," coach Mike LaFleur said. "Drew definitely has his spin on that offense, but it's the Detroit Lions offense. They're doing a lot of the stuff that they've done in the run game. They're doing a lot of stuff that (Lions QB) Jared's (Goff) has been really, really successful at.
"A lot of the same, but he's definitely put his little flavor on it for sure."
For his part, Petzing told the Detroit media he wasn't thinking much about a return to Arizona because it's just the next game on the schedule, fairly decent coach-speak for someone in his position.
But he noted his three seasons in Arizona were a "huge part of my career," and that he was able to grow as a coach, a person and a leader.
He also said it would be fun to go against Rallis, whom he respects and grew close to with the Cardinals.
"Any chance you get to go against him and match our schemes and match our minds, that's something you get excited about," Petzing said.
Under Petzing thus far, the Lions are sixth in yards per game at 389.3, and fifth in scoring at 29.8 points a game. By comparison, the Cardinals are allowing 351.1 yards (24th) and 29.3 points (29th) per game.
(It would be natural to expect a shootout; Detroit's defense is 31st in points at 31.8 and 32nd/last in yards allowed at 432.8.)
Whether it is Petzing or anyone, the Cardinals obviously want to improve defensively. Allowing so many points per game this season "sucks," Rallis acknowledged.
"It's about playing good ball," Rallis said. "You have to look at it one play at a time, one drive at a time. That's what we were talking about even on the sideline. I think we had 19 (points allowed) in the first half, you've already given up more than you'd want. You're not worried about that, you're not worried about the future. You're worried about, 'How do we play good, clean ball this series?'"
