Eagles OC Brian Johnson expected to interview for Carolina Panthers head coaching job
The Panthers requested permission to interview Johnson, who declined comment on the report that he's expected to do so.
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Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson was among the candidates the Carolina Panthers requested permission to interview for their vacant head coaching position.
Johnson, who is in his third season with the Eagles and his first as offensive coordinator, declined to comment directly on an ESPN report that he was expected to interview at his weekly press conference Wednesday. He said he’s focused on the wild-card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
“We’ve got a great opportunity with a special group of people to go out there and put on a great performance against Tampa Bay,” Johnson said. “And that’s where all of our focus and energy is at the moment.”
Job candidates who are employed by teams in the wild-card round may participate in virtual interviews three days after that game, according to league rules. Those interviews must be concluded before the divisional round. In the Eagles’ case, Johnson reportedly could interview virtually with the Panthers as early as Jan. 17, regardless of whether the Eagles win their wild-card game.
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The Panthers finished their season at the bottom of the NFC South with a 2-15 record, marking their sixth straight year out of the playoffs. They fired their head coach Frank Reich, who served as offensive coordinator for the Eagles from 2016-17, on Nov. 27 and replaced him with interim head coach Chris Tabor. Reich was the Panthers’ third fired head coach in the last five years.
This season, the 36-year-old Johnson has been responsible for calling the plays for the Eagles offense, which is based on head coach Nick Sirianni’s scheme. The Eagles finished the regular season ranked seventh in the league in scoring (25.4 points per game) and eighth in yards (354.4 yards per game). In terms of situational football, the Eagles offense ranked No. 3 in third-down conversions (48%), No. 1 in fourth-down conversions (73.1%, a reflection of the effectiveness of the Tush Push), and No. 9 in red-zone success rate (60%).
However, the Eagles have struggled in their most recent stretch, going 1-5 in their last six games. In that span, the offense has averaged 20.5 points per game, a drop-off from their previous 11 games when they racked up 28.2 points per game.
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Generally speaking, Johnson said Sirianni is supportive of his assistants during this time of year when the interview process begins for prospective promotions around the league.
“Nick’s been a great resource in terms of development, and just being able to be somebody to get ideas from and to bounce ideas off of,” Johnson said. “I can’t say enough good things about the relationship I have with Nick, especially considering prior to me getting here, we didn’t know each other. I can’t say enough good things about just the type of person he is, how much he cares, and how much he wants to see everybody do really, really well. So he’s somebody that in a short three-year period has become somebody who’s real close.”
Before he replaced former Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, who was hired as the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach in the offseason, Johnson was the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach in 2021-22.