Philadelphia Eagles promote Brian Johnson to offensive coordinator, source says

The Eagles are promoting quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson to offensive coordinator, a league source confirmed to The Inquirer on Tuesday morning.

Johnson, 36, replaces former coordinator Shane Steichen, who was hired as the Colts’ head coach after Super Bowl LVII. Johnson was a reported coordinator finalist for several other teams, but he will remain in Philadelphia, where he will have an opportunity to call plays and continue to mentor quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Johnson began his coaching career at his alma mater, Utah, in 2010 as the quarterbacks coach. He was quickly promoted to offensive coordinator and called plays under Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. Over the past decade, Johnson has also coached at Mississippi State, Houston and Florida.

» READ MORE: Meet Brian Johnson, Eagles QB coach tasked with promoting Jalen Hurts’ development

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni hired Johnson as quarterbacks coach in 2021, when Hurts took over as the starter.

“Brian walked right in here and had a great relationship with our quarterback dating back to when (Hurts) was 2 years old,” Sirianni said last week. “So the relationship means a lot. And the trust was there automatically…Brian is also very gifted in the sense of fraud. He helps a lot with our schemes and the way we attack defenses in the run game, in the pass game, in the protection world, in situations. He has been a great influence for Jalen.”

The Hurts-Johnson duo can date back decades to their home state roots in Texas. Johnson played for Hurts’ father, Averion, at Lee High School. And before Hurts committed to play college football at Alabama, it was Johnson who tried to lure him away to Mississippi State.

“It’s a people’s profession,” Johnson told The Inquirer last season. “You never know where you’ll end up, but you have to understand that people are different and you have to manage personalities. It’s wild to think that Jalen’s dad was one of my coaches in high school and here I am coaching Jalen in the NFL.”

Over the past two seasons, Hurts has produced 6,845 passing yards with 38 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He has also rushed for 1,544 yards and 23 rushing touchdowns. This past season, Hurts showed progress as he led the Eagles to the Super Bowl and was also named an NFL MVP finalist.

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts was nearly perfect in the Super Bowl for the Eagles. Pay him. $250 million, guaranteed | Marcus Hayes

Before traveling to Indianapolis for the NFL scouting combine, Johnson joined Hurts on Saturday in Kansas City at the 101 Awards, where Hurts was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Year.

“He tells me good, bad or don’t care — just keep being you,” Hurts said of Johnson. “We come down or there’s a turnover, he tells me, ‘Hey, let’s get some points’ or ‘Hey, we’re there.’

“Coach Brian always keeps me prepared. There is never any doubt about that.”