Eagles’ Brian Johnson praises replacement Alex Tanney

After promotion, Eagles’ Johnson praises ‘superstar’ replacement originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

When the Eagles lost offensive coordinator Shane Steichen to a head coaching job this offseason, replacing him with quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson was a no-brainer.

His replacement was a no-brainer too.

The Eagles had a contingency plan in place that didn’t just include promoting Johnson; it included promoting assistant quarterbacks coach Alex Tanney too.

And Johnson has no doubt that Tanney will be successful.

“Alex is a very bright coach,” Johnson said in a press conference late last week. “He’s a superstar. I’m excited to watch his career take off, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll do great.”

Tanney, 35, joined the Eagles as a quality control coach when Nick Sirianni was hired in 2021 before getting promoted to assistant QBs coach last season. At this rate, Tanney will have Sirianni’s job in a couple years. OK, we’re getting ahead of ourselves but Tanney does seem to be a fast-risers in the coaching ranks and if the Eagles continue to have success, especially with Jalen Hurts, it’s possible we could see a pipeline to head coaching gigs created.

While Tanney didn’t become a coach until 2021, he spent nine years in the NFL (2012-20) as a backup quarterback with the Chiefs, Cowboys, Browns, Bucs, Titans, Bills, Colts and Giants. There’s something about NFL backups that turns them into good coaches; we’ve seen it in this city before with Doug Pederson and Frank Reich.

Tanney’s background gives him a different perspective than Johnson, who had just a cup of coffee in the NFL before beginning his coaching ascent.

“Well, I think Alex has played in this league for a really long time,” Johnson said. “I think everybody has unique experiences that help them get to the point that they are. Not only for Jalen but even for the rest of the room, for Ian (Book) and for Marcus (Mariota) and for Tanner (McKee). All of those guys will be able to utilize Alex in a way that will help them get better.”

Since Tanney didn’t begin his coaching career until 2021, he hadn’t been on a staff with any of the Eagles coaches but a bunch of them had actually coached him. Sirianni coached him in Kansas City, Steichen coached him in Cleveland, Jason Michael and Kevin Patullo coached him in Tennessee. And they all saw a kid with a bright future in the NFL as a coach.

So when Sirianni was looking to fill his staff, Tanney was an easy phone call. But what really blew Sirianni away was how much Tanney prepared for that job. He didn’t just rest on the pre-existing relationships.

It’s also pretty clear that Tanney has done a good job since the Eagles hired him too. Not only have they promoted him in back-to-back offseasons but they’re not entrusting him with their no-doubt franchise quarterback.

Sure, the Eagles still have Sirianni and Johnson, but no coach will spend more time with Hurts, who signed a $255 million extension last month. The Eagles obviously want to protect that investment and they’ve deemed the right way to do that is with Tanney.

Johnson has known Hurts since Hurts was a child and that relationship will still be strong. Johnson will still be around the building and calling the plays that Hurts will run. But he’s also comfortable handing over the keys to the QB room to Tanney.

“I think we have a great quarterbacks coach in Alex Tanney,” Johnson said, “and he has that room.”

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