Report: Eagles interview Kliff Kingsbury after firing OC Johnson
The Philadelphia Eagles are moving on from offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, sources told Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Eagles interviewed former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury to fill the role Tuesday, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
The 44-year-old Kingsbury was the Cardinals' coach for four seasons before being fired in 2022. He spent last season as a senior offensive analyst at USC.
The Eagles need new coordinators on both sides of the ball. The club reportedly dropped defensive coordinator Sean Desai after stripping him of play-calling duties toward the end of the regular season. Matt Patricia took over for Desai but is apparently out of contract and won't return to the Eagles for next season.
After two years as the club's quarterbacks coach, Johnson took over as Philadelphia's offensive coordinator following Shane Steichen's departure to become the Indianapolis Colts' head coach ahead of the 2023 season.
Despite Philadelphia finishing seventh in points scored (25.5) this year, its offense regressed. The team averaged the third-most points in the regular season (28.1) and topped all playoff teams (34.7) en route to a Super Bowl appearance during the 2022 campaign.
Jalen Hurts' play significantly declined with Johnson as his offensive coordinator, with his interception total jumping from six in 2022 to 15 this season. The quarterback also averaged only 7.2 yards per attempt after an 8.0 mark in 2023 and threw only one more touchdown and 157 more yards despite 78 more attempts.
The direction of the team's offensive scheme reportedly disappointed Hurts this campaign, and a disconnect between the signal-caller's vision, Johnson, and head coach Nick Sirianni led to the unit's inconsistency.
Philadelphia collapsed down the stretch, losing five of its last six regular-season games before suffering a blowout upset loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which the offense scored just nine points.
Sirianni was seemingly on the hot seat after losing to the Bucs, but he appears safe, with a press conference for the coach and general manager Howie Roseman scheduled for Wednesday.
The Eagles' disappointing results didn't stop teams from adding Johnson to their candidate list for coaching vacancies. Johnson received head coaching interviews from the Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans, who reportedly hired Brian Callahan.
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