As expected, Eagles head coach Brian Johnson will be Nick Siriani’s new offensive coordinator.
The news had been expected for two weeks, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday morning that it was a done deal, and a league source confirmed the news.
Not surprisingly, the highly regarded Johnson had “multiple opportunities” for other offensive coordinator jobs before choosing to stay with the Eagles.
MORE: Another candidate for the Eagles’ DC job has dropped out
Johnson, who was coached by Jalen Hurts’ father in high school, has a great relationship with the Eagles’ quarterback and is widely credited with Hurts’ historic rise from a starting backup starting four games in 2020 with modest success to MVP runner-up. And a Super Bowl star in 2022.
Johnson will be the Eagles’ first-ever African-American offensive coordinator and fourth-most in the NFL, along with Washington’s Eric Bienemy, Bucks’ Byron Leftwich and Panthers’ Thomas Brown,
Johnson, 36, replaces Shane Station, who spent the past two years as offensive coordinator under Nick Siriani before becoming the head coach of the Colts.
The Eagles are ranked in the top three in nearly every major offensive category in 2022 on their way to a franchise record – 14 wins and a trip to the Super Bowl.
Sirianni said two weeks ago that whoever replaces Steichen will talk about the plays.
“It helps me run the game better in my opinion,” he said. “It helps me interact with players more on the sidelines. And it helps me be able to discuss something with someone upstairs to get the defensive headset when the offense is up or vice versa. Yeah, that would be my intention, allowing the next offensive coordinator call the game.”
Johnson was the play caller during his two years as offensive coordinator at Utah in 2012 and 2013, and also called plays as offensive coordinator at Houston in 2017. Utah averaged 27 and 29 points in his two years at Salt Lake City, and hit Houston averaged 28 points per game in 2017.
Johnson had a role calling plays when he was the offensive coordinator for Florida State in 2020, though head coach Dan Mullen was the primary caller. The Gators averaged 40 points per game that year, which led to Sirianni hiring Johnson.
Steichen is one of four assistant coaches to leave Siriani’s staff this offseason. Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon became the Cards’ head coach and then hired Eagles linebacker coach Nick Rales as his defensive coordinator, and Defensive Quality Control coach Joe Casper left to become a safety coach with the Dolphins under Mike McDaniel.
The Eagles have not officially announced any replacements yet.
