NEWSLETTER
The Philadelphia Eagles filled their offensive and defensive coordinator vacancies on Tuesday afternoon. Nick Sirianni promoted quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson to offensive coordinator. Johnson replaces Shane Steichen, who took the Indianapolis Colts job days after Super Bowl 57.
Johnson seemed to be the obvious choice from the start and has a strong resume of working with quarterbacks. Johnson spent the past two years working closely with Jalen Hurts as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach.
Previously, Johnson served as the OC and QBs coach at the University of Florida from 2018 to 2020. Johnson helped develop Gators QB Kyle Trask, who now plays for the Buccaneers and has the inside track on the starting job in Tampa Bay.
Johnson also worked with Dak Prescott from 2014 to 2016 at Mississippi State.
Much is made about Johnson’s background with Jalen Hurts because Johnson played for Hurts’ father in high school, but this is not a move to appease Hurts. Instead, Johnson’s resume speaks for itself. Johnson was an offensive coordinator at multiple schools before joining the Eagles in 2020. Johnson was also a star quarterback at Utah before his coaching days and was on the cover of the EA Sports “NCAA Football 10” video game.
Alex Tanney will take over as the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach. In addition, Marcus Brady was promoted to senior offensive assistant, and T.J. Paganetti was promoted to run game coordinator.
Nick Sirianni also announced that Philadelphia had hired Sean Desai as their new defensive coordinator. He fills the vacancy left by Jonathan Gannon, who took over as the Cardinals’ head coach in February.
Desai spent the 2022 season working as the associate head coach on Pete Carroll’s staff in Seattle. Desai was the Bears’ DC in 2021 and spent eight seasons with the Bears as a coordinator and assistant.
The new Eagles defensive coordinator is a disciple of Vic Fangio and highly recommended by the new Dolphins’ DC. Desai interviewed for a handful of positions this offseason. Still, Landing the Eagles DC job was probably the best-case scenario for Desai.
Desai inherits one of the league’s top defensive units from last season and arrives in Philadelphia following high words of praise from Carroll.
“We had a great time. He’s really, really a brilliant football guy,” Carroll said. “The background and the information he holds, his access to information is really special. He helped us a ton getting going and making a year’s transition.”
The Eagles now have their two most important coaching positions filled out as they prepare for free agency.
