The Eagles have hired University of Florida offensive coordinator, Brian Johnson, as their new quarterbacks coach, Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday.
What's notable about the hire is Johnson's relationship with Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Johnson was Prescott's quarterbacks coach when he starred at Mississippi State before being drafted by Dallas in 2016.
The irony that the Eagles are turning to someone who helped develop Prescott into the player he is today to help fix their broken starting quarterback, Carson Wentz, is fitting.
Not long ago, there was a debate over who was the superior quarterback between Prescott and Wentz. That ship has since sailed as Wentz continued to struggle week-in-and-week-out this season, and was ultimately benched in favor of Jalen Hurts.
Johnson's hiring might not be all about Wentz, either, as the quarterbacks coach also has a relationship with Hurts.
Johnson has known Hurts since he was four-years-old and recruited him to play at Mississippi State. Hurts’ father, Averion, was a coach at Baytown Lee High School in Baytown, Texas, where Johnson played high school ball.
Hurts obviously went to Alabama instead, and then moved on to Oklahoma for one year.
Johnson, who turns 34 in February, is another young coaching hire by the Eagles, and is just six years older than Wentz. After finishing as the winningest quarterback in Utah school history, Johnson played a year in the Canadian Football League before jumping back to Utah to coach quarterbacks. His stops include Mississippi State, Houston, and Florida.
Johnson joins Shane Steichen, Kevin Patullo and Jeff Stoutland on the offensive coaching staff under new head coach Nick Sirianni. He replaces Press Taylor, who was not retained by the team earlier this week.