For the moment, Brian Johnson is the pipeline.
The NFL is a glass-ceiling institution if ever there was one. League commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday made his annual, hollow admission that a 32-team league with more than 60% Black players facing a lawsuit for discriminatory hiring practices should have more than three Black head coaches.
Goodell and the NFL have defended the league’s hiring practices for years by saying its owners feel most comfortable hiring former offensive coordinators and/or play-callers as head coaches. Super Bowl LVII coaches Andy Reid of the Chiefs and Nick Sirianni of the Eagles, who are white, each meet those qualifications. So does Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who is Black.
Further, the NFL has said its owners, who have legislated the passing game into the NFL’s DNA, feel more comfortable hiring quarterbacks coaches to be offensive coordinators; preferably, quarterbacks coaches who have been former quarterbacks. Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, a candidate for the head-coaching job in Indianapolis who played quarterback at UNLV, meets those qualifies. He is white.
This time next year, Brian Johnson should meet those qualifications, too.
Johnson is the Eagles’ second-year quarterbacks coach. He was a star quarterback at Utah. He’s been an offensive coordinator at Utah, Houston, and Florida. In just two seasons, he’s transformed long-term project Jalen Hurts into an MVP finalist and the Super Bowl starter. Johnson is Black.
Four teams have vacancies at offensive coordinator. If Steichen gets hired as a head coach, the Eagles will make it five. Considering how well Johnson, 35, fits the pipeline profile, it will be fascinating to see what sort of interest Johnson receives.
Johnson told me Wednesday that reports that Jets and Rams interviewed him for their since-filled vacancies were inaccurate, though the Eagles have received requests from several teams.
“I haven’t been able to do that stuff yet,” he said. “Some teams have put in for me, yeah.”
Why ignore the interest?
“I’m not ignoring it at all,” he said. “It’s a very, very ... unique situation.”
He might be wiser to wait.
If Steichen leaves, a team source said, Sirianni would consider Johnson to replace him. It makes sense, and it would be the best OC job available — a Super Bowl team whose head coach doesn’t call plays — but it’s not a slam dunk.
Sirianni also would consider Eagles passing-game coordinator Kevin Patullo, who is white. Patullo, 41, was a college quarterback and receiver with 13 years of NFL experience coaching QBs and wideouts. While it might strike a blow to diversity, it might behoove the Eagles to keep Johnson at QB coach and focused on Hurts. Johnson was coached by Hurts’ father in Texas, knows Hurts better than any coach on Earth, and there’s a lot more for Hurts to learn.
As long as Hurts doesn’t regress, Johnson’s star will only keep rising.
“Hopefully we can keep him here as long as we possibly can,” Hurts said Tuesday, “but nonetheless I’m proud of him. It’s definitely just the beginning for the both of us. He’s going to be a star one day, he’s going to be a big-time head coach one day.”
“Star?” echoed one NFL executive who has known Johnson for years. “Try superstar.”
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman understands that Sirianni’s staff will be pillaged sooner than later.
“We’re renting some of these coaches,” Roseman said. “Brian is an intelligent football coach. On top of that, he can motivate young men. He’s a great example for these guys. That’s what he’s going to bring to [a team’s] program.”
It’s compelling that one of Johnson’s greatest champions is, arguably, his stiffest competition: Bieniemy.
Bieniemy, a former running back and running backs coach, has become the poster child for NFL hiring inequities. His offenses led the NFL in 2018, 2020, and 2022, and finished third in 2021. The offense ranked sixth in 2019, but the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, and they’re back for a third time in four years. He helped develop two-time MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Detractors cite Bieniemy’s role as Reid’s sidekick, since Reid calls the plays. But Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy, white coaches with quarterback pedigrees, both got head-coaching jobs after being Reid’s OC in KC.
Bieniemy reportedly is a candidate for more autonomous OC jobs in Washington and Baltimore, and, like Steichen, he has interviewed for the head coaching job in Indy. He has no enmity for a fellow Black coach who might push the stone a little higher up the hill.
“It’s very important he gets interviews and offers,” Bieniemy said. “Brian has done an outstanding job. He’s been a hell of a quarterback coach since he’s been in this business, at the collegiate level, and obviously what he’s done with Jalen Hurts. If Brian continues being Brian, the sky is the limit.”
Johnson was at once blown away and gratified. He expressed his gratitude toward Bieniemy, Maryland coach Mike Locksley, and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton.
“Wow,” he said. “They’ve been nothing but great to me. When you have men like that who can give you advice, be a sounding board — that’s really, really special.”
Johnson participated in the NFL’s new Accelerator Program in May, an initiative to introduce the best minority coaching and front-office assistants to the league’s decision-makers.
“I got an opportunity to meet some people I’d never met before,” Johnson said. “Owners. General managers. The commissioner. Other coaches.”
The NFL can change in a heartbeat. Johnson’s time is now.
“Everybody’s going to recognize who he is. We all knew who he is,” Bieniemy said. “We all appreciate what’s he’s done.”
Do they, really?
Do they all?
