The Eagles are hiring University of Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson as a quarterback coach, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
Johnson, 33, will replace Press Taylor, who will not be hired by Doug Pederson’s team.
Johnson has been with the Gators since 2018. He joined them as a quarterback coach and became the offensive coordinator in the 2020 season.
Prior to that, Johnson spent a year in Houston as an OC / QBs technician and three years in the state of Mississippi before that. In Mississippi, Johnson helped Dak Prescott become a NFL pick. Prescott had great success in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, becoming the NFL Rookie of the Year in 2016. Prescott was a two-time Pro Bowler and shot for almost 5,000 yards in 2019. He was well on his way to overcoming that in 2020 before to suffer an injury at the end of the season.
So now the Eagles hope that the guy who helped create Dak will be able to help fix Carson Wentz.
The next big question is whether or not Wentz is back for the 2021 season. The relationship between Wentz and the Eagles is clearly in need of repair. But if Wentz stays in 2021, Johnson will be responsible for helping to fix Wentz.
But it is also worth pointing out, as this Philadelphia Inquirer Mike Sielski’s story notes, that Johnson recruited Jalen Hurts while in Mississippi and has known Hurts since Hurts was 4 years old.
Johnson was interviewed for jobs as a head coach and South Carolina and Boise State in this off season and is considered one of the best offensive young coaches in the country.
It will be Johnson, along with coach Nick Sirianni and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen in the offensive coach positions for the Eagles towards the next season. This will be an extremely young technical committee. Sirianni is 39, passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo is 39, Steichen is 35, Johnson is 33 and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is 37.
In addition to training Prescott, Johnson also helped Gators quarterback Kyle Trask get some important numbers in 2020. Trask completed almost 69% of his passes for 4,283 yards with 43 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions in 2020. Before Trask, Johnson trained Feleipe Franks.
Johnson, who played as a defender in Utah, started his coaching career there in 2010 as a QB coach. He was then promoted to offensive coordinator for two seasons before leaving for the state of Mississippi.
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