What to Make of The Eagles Youth Movement
After a sluggish beginning to the coaching search that seemed like it drug on for a month, Nick Sirianni and the Philadelphia Eagles front office have wasted no time filling out their coaching staff. In the last four days they have filled the vacancies at offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and quarterback coach. They all have something in common with the new head coach, they're all under the age of 40. The youngest of the bunch being newly appointed QB coach Brian Johnson (33) who only eleven years ago was Sugar Bowl MVP as a quarterback for The University of Utah.
The Birds now have one of the youngest coaching staffs in all of football, something that in itself is polarizing. Pessimistic fans (we call those Negadelphians) and media members alike wonder if a group of men so young can lead a locker room filled with players who likely have siblings older than themselves. The optimists of the bunch see this as the franchise joining the youth movement that seems to have taken the NFL by storm over the past 5 years.
Since we are Eagles, fans we will all over analyze every move the team makes for better or worse. So we here at the QBFS would be remiss to not dissect the men who will be leading this team into the 2021 season. Since we covered the head honcho recently we will be focusing exclusively on the newly hired coordinators and the QB coach. For anyone who missed it, you can check out our write up on Nick Sirianni here:
Shawn Palumbo
Jonathan Gannon, 37. Defensive Coordinator
Jonathan Gannon was one of the most highly sought after names in NFL circles this off-season for defensive coordinator jobs. He was a graduate assistant at Louisville in 2006. When Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino was hired by The Atlanta Falcons in 2007, he took Gannon with him to the NFL to serve as a defensive assistant. After the failed Petrino experiment in Atlanta, Gannon stepped away from coaching and took a job with The St. Louis Rams as a college scout; serving in that role until 2011 when the desire to coach once more landed him in Tennessee.
He was a defensive quality control coach for the Titans until 2013 when he was offered a promotion as the assistant defensive backs coach in Minnesota. He stayed in that role with the Vikings for four years, and in each of his four seasons the Vikings were top twelve in passing yards allowed; his last two seasons in the top three. This must've caught the eye of Frank Reich, and in 2018 he was hired to be the defensive backs coach for The Colts. During his time in Indianapolis, The Colts defense was formidable tallying 15 interceptions in each of his three years at the helm giving up only 25 more passing touchdowns than interceptions in 48 games; a ratio that is among the league's elite.
It's hard to really pin down how position coaches will translate into coordinator roles, but seven years of being a part of successful secondaries and a hot market for his services give reason to be optimistic.
Shane Steichen, 35. Offensive Coordinator
Shane Steichen is charged with running the offense and if his work with Justin Herbert in Los Angeles translates to his new gig in Philly, we could see Carson Wentz regain his pre-2020 form sooner than later. The 35 year old got his start much like his defensive counterpart, as a quality control coach. He started off with Cleveland in the 2013 season before moving to The Chargers in 2014. He was promoted from quality control coach to quarterback coach in 2016, and he helped Phillip Rivers to some of his best campaigns in a Hall of Fame career. Before the 2020 season he was named the offensive coordinator of the team, taking on a tall task in the wake of Rivers departure to Indianapolis.
Expectations for the team were very low heading into the season and while The Chargers had a subpar 2020 season as a whole, there was a major bright spot. Their rookie first rounder Justin Herbert lit the league on fire, shattering almost every major rookie QB record in 15 games. He put the league on notice after a medical mishap put Tyrod Taylor on the IR, Herbert took the job and never looked back. Obviously the kid is supremely talented, but you have to think that some of the rooks' success can be attributed to the coaching staff.
There have been a lot of rookies who came out on fire only to hit the rookie wall later in the year; that wasn't the case with Herbert. He was sensational and even seemed to get better as the year went along. That is a testament to the staff, primarily Steichen, who worked with Herbert the closest as his QB coach/OC. Unfortunately LA wanted to move in a different direction firing Anthony Lynn and his staff at season's end. Their loss may end up being Philly's gain.
The future of Carson Wentz in Philadelphia is still very much in limbo, but after the moves that have been made in the coaching department; it seems like the front office is eager to keep him in midnight green. He could benefit greatly from this hire. Wentz had a propensity to hold onto the ball too long which lead to a few very bad turnovers and a sack total akin to the David Carr era in Houston. Herbert released the ball in 2.69 seconds where Carson consistently hovered around 3 seconds. That may not seem like much but it is an eternity in football time. Could Steichens' quick hitting system help the woes that seemed to plague Wentz fr the majority of 2020? If the Eagles decide to move on from Carson and rebuild with Hurts, can Steichen bring the same level of success to Hurts as he did to Herbert?
Almost anything will be a tangible improvement over the conglomerate of Doug Pederson, Rich Scangarello, and Press Taylor's unimaginative, slow developing, and unbalanced offense.
Brian Johnson, 33. QB Coach
The latest addition to the coaching staff could wind up being the most impactful hiring of them all. Brian Johnson, the young OC of the Florida Gators was hired to be the Eagles QB coach, coming into one of the most tenuous situations in football. Johnson has a super high football pedigree. He was a supremely talented QB at Utah leading the Utes to an undefeated season and a Sugar Bowl win in his senior year. After graduating he was named the QB coach at Utah at only 23 years old. He spent two seasons in that role before being promoted to offensive coordinator at 25 years old. In 2014 his tenure at Utah came to an end and he moved to Mississippi State to be the QB coach once more. During his time coaching the Bulldogs he turned Dak Prescott (BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!) from little known prospect into an NFL draft pick. He turned his success at Mississippi State into a promotion to be an offensive coordinator at The University of Houston. His tenure there was cut short after head coach Tom Herman resigned to take a job at University of Texas. During his short time he coached future Eagles WR Greg Ward Jr, then a QB to his best statistical season. He also coached up Kyle Allen (Washington Football Team) while in Houston.
His next stop after departing from Houston would be his last and most high profile job to date. In 2017 he was hired by The University of Florida to be the QB coach (I’m sensing a trend that this guy knows his quarterbacks). He spent his first two years with the Gators exclusively as the QB coach, developing 2020 Heisman finalist Kyle Trask. Once again Johnson's acumen couldn't be denied and he was promoted to offensive coordinator heading into the 2020 season. His promotion coincided with the Gators offense absolutely exploding. They averaged 39.8 points per game, won the SEC East division, and received an invite to The Cotton Bowl.
He has coached and developed more pros by the age of 33 than some do in 33 years of coaching at the college level. His potential seems to be limitless. But like all things Eagles related, his hiring doesn't come without some built in drama.
He spent the last three years grooming and coaching Kyle Trask, a player with a build and skill set eerily similar to Carson Wentz. His combination of size, arm talent, and ability to throw on the run will make some wonder what he can do with a player who fits that same mold in Wentz. It is also common knowledge that he has a personal connection to Jalen Hurts. He has been a friend of the Hurts family for nearly 20 years, and was coached by Jalen's father in high school. Jalen also has a skill set that's been compared to Dak Prescott, who Johnson coached during his time at Mississippi State. No matter who he may prefer, if both of the quarterbacks are on the roster when next season rolls around, history tells us Johnson will get the best out of them.While nothing is guaranteed in life, it appears that The Eagles and Nick Siranni have assembled a very talented coaching staff that has plenty of room to grow. There is an air of hope that fresh eyes and fresh play calling can help this team regain the glory and promise we all had such a short time ago. There are so many factors that go into building a winning team and a winning culture but this feels like it’s a step in the right direction. After the debacle of a season we just had to suffer through, a little hope can go a long way.