Eagles

Panthers Reportedly will Interview Brian Johnson

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jan 10th, 2024 · 2:55 PM EST

---

Schefter:

Panthers are expected to interview Eagles’ offensive coordinator Brian Johnson for their head coaching job, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 10, 2024

I hate that the Rooney Rule is the first thing that entered my mind when I saw this tweet. Makes me feel like a scumbag, but the fact of the matter is that teams do disingenuous quota fulfilling every offseason and Brian Johnson isn’t exactly a red hot coaching candidate at this particular moment, unless there’s another version of the Eagles offense that I’m not aware of. Even when the Birds were 10-1 I didn’t see one single report or one single tweet about Johnson being next in line for a head coach job. Maybe the rest of the NFL thinks the Birds offense is good, which would be crazy.

Now, if there are some solid minority candidates out there, bring ’em in for real interviews, not sham interviews. Look at what DeMeco Ryans did this year. Mike Tomlin and Todd Bowles have their squads back in the playoffs. Antonio Pierce did a good job with the Raiders as an interim guy. Bring in dudes who have a real shot being hired. Does anyone on the Planet Earth really think that David Tepper has Brian Johnson at the top of his list? Who would want to work for him anyway?

Johnson was asked about this at his midweek presser:

Q. News came out you’re up for a potential interview with the Panthers. Any comment on that, can you confirm that? (Chris Franklin)

BRIAN JOHNSON: I have no comment. All of my focus is about this week, and we’ve got a great opportunity with a special group of people to go out there and put on a great performance against Tampa Bay, and that’s where all of our focus and energy is at the moment.

Q. If you have an interview, though, that wouldn’t necessarily mean the focus would be 100 percent, right? If the interview happens this weekend. (Jeff McLane)

BRIAN JOHNSON: All my focus is about this playoff game and putting everybody in position to go out there and put on a great performance on Monday night.