Eagles 'Back to School': Why Coach Nick Sirianni is Building Staff with College Hires

Brian Johnson was at the forefront of the Eagles coach looking for assistants in the college ranks, and now Eagles coach Nick Sirianni has gone there again to find more

Nick Sirianni is proving you can go back to college again, at least when it comes to rebuilding parts of his coaching staff this offseason.

The Eagles’ head coach started the trend of looking into the college ranks when he uncovered Brian Johnson at the University of Florida and made him the team’s quarterback coach. He had never coached a down in the NFL.

After hiring Johnson shortly after becoming the Eagles' head coach in early 2021, Sirianni said: “It gives us the ability to take some things from the college game to make our offense, just become a little more difficult to defend."

The Eagles' offense became more RPO-based, similar to what colleges do.

It wasn’t all Johnson, but he did so well in his role, it was a no-brainer to promote him to offensive coordinator when Shane Steichen left to take the head coaching gig with the Indianapolis Colts after the Super Bowl.

“A plus for him was bringing in Brian Johnson, who he didn’t even know,” said owner Jeffrey Lurie. “We got into this position where Shane got hired and we have an outstanding young coach there.”

Sirianni went back to college again to fill a couple of positions during this offseason, hiring D.J. Eliot to coach linebackers and Tyler Yelk, whose role has yet to be defined or announced by the Eagles but is being reported as an assistant to Sirianni. ... and it's all part of Philly's efforts to "cultivate talent'' in every way.

Sirianni also brought in Taver Johnson to be the DB coach, replacing Dennard Wilson, who left for the same job with the Ravens after being passed over to be the Eagles’ defensive coordinator.

Johnson had been a lifelong college coach, though he spent a year as an assistant special team coach with the Browns in 2004 and one year as an offensive assistant with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021.

Eliot takes over for Nick Rallis, who followed former Eagles coordinator Jonathan Gannon to Arizona. He had previous ties to Temple University as the coordinator and outside linebackers coach in 2022.

Yelk also has ties to Temple, where he spent 2019-21 coaching primarily safeties.

“You’re just looking for good coaches no matter where you find them,” said Sirianni. “I had a lot of success getting with guys at the college side.”

Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. please follow him on Twitter: @kracze. Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Philadelphia Eagles? Click Here. Want even more Philadelphia Eagles news? Check out the SI.com team page here