PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Nick Sirianni familiar with being second-guessed for his in-game decision-making. He gets it everywhere.
"Sometimes my wife says, 'Why?!?!'"
No, not even within the sacred confines of his own home is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, the best team in the NFL with a record of 10-1, immune.
"I understand it," Sirianni told Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jeff McLane on the unCovering the Birds podcast, "but shoot, we want every play to work."
Brian Johnson holds similar expectations.
The 36-year-old is entering the back end of his first season as the Eagles' offensive coordinator. He served as quarterbacks coach the previous two seasons and, before that, as an offensive coordinator for several Power Five conference college football teams.
Prior to this year, however, Johnson had never called plays at the NFL level.
He replaced Shane Steichen last offseason after Steichen took the head coaching job in Indianapolis.
On the heels of the Eagles making a Super Bowl appearance and retaining a core of All-Pro candidates on offense, Johnson stepped into a high-pressure spot.
The Eagles weren't passing the eye test on offense the first few weeks of the season, and Johnson became an immediate lightening rod among a segment of the fanbase on social media and sports talk radio.
"It's not like you're playing Madden," Johnson told McLane, making a reference to the classic NFL video game.
A lot that goes into calling a game, but there's also a lot that goes into being an offensive coordinator in general.
🏈 Tailoring a scheme to maximize individual and collective strengths.
🏈 Managing injuries.
🏈 Formulating a game plan.
🏈 Seeing the world through not only the eyes of players, but the head coach.
🏈 Living up to expectations and tuning out criticism.
"I'm not easily fazed," said Johnson, who, as a quarterback at the University of Utah, set the program's all-time wins record. "I've had a chance to go through a bunch of good times and a bunch of adversity. Ultimately, those are just opportunities for you to reveal your character even more so than build it."
With the Eagles sitting alone atop the NFL and in the midst of an impressive three-game winning streak, Johnson has started to shift the narrative.
"Brian's piecing it together," ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said on unCovering the Birds.
The Eagles' last three victories have come against Dallas, Kansas City, and Buffalo — all opponents with high-caliber defensive units that are vying for the playoffs.
In each game, Johnson has shown a knack for making adjustments that helped key successful comebacks.
"What I've seen from Brian over the last couple of games, maybe the last month, is getting the feel for who [the Eagles] are this year," said Orlovsky, a former NFL quarterback. "I see the evolution of a game-caller."
For Johnson, the mindset is simple.
"You either adapt or you die. That's just something that everybody has to live with at this point in time. I'm pretty comfortable with my process."
To find out more about Johnson's rapid rise through the college and NFL coaching ranks, why he skipped first grade, and what players, colleagues, and experts think of him as an evolving offensive coordinator, check out unCovering the Birds on the free Audacy app or wherever you get podcasts.
