The Washington Commanders are reportedly “expected to hire” former Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who was fired in Philly after just one season running the offense, “to a prominent offensive staff role,” according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
New head coach Dan Quinn has already appointed Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator, replacing Eric Bieniemy, who was let go after one season on the job.
Johnson, 36, started his career as the quarterbacks coach (2010-13) and offensive coordinator (2012-13) at Utah before moving to Mississippi State, where he was the quarterbacks coach between 2014-16.
He then served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for a year at Houston (2017) before coaching the quarterbacks at Florida (2018-20) and serving one year as offensive coordinator (2020).
Nick Sirianni hired him to the team’s staff in 2021 as a quarterbacks coach, a role he held for two years before getting promoted to offensive coordinator last season.
Under his watch, the Eagles finished eighth in yards and seventh in points, solid marks, though the offense became stale down the stretch and struggled as the Eagles lost six of their last seven games, including a 32-9 blowout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round.
He was fired this offseason and replaced with Kellen Moore.
Given his background, it’s very possible he’ll work closely with the young quarterback Washington is expected to take with the No. 2 overall pick.
Fowler did clarify that the Johnson hire would “likely be as a pass-game coordinator role,” so current quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard might be remaining in place.
Regardless, Quinn—whose coaching history is more heavily weighted to the defensive side of the ball—is bringing in both a former head coach and offensive coordinator in Kingsbury to run the offense and a former offensive coordinator to put together passing game.
It will be interesting to see what Kingsbury and Johnson cook up together for a rookie quarterback.
On the defensive side, Quinn appointed Joe Whitt Jr. to be defensive coordinator.
Whitt worked with Quinn in both Atlanta and Dallas and was the Cowboys’ pass-game coordinator the past three seasons.
