Veteran Addition To Staff
Report: Birds Hire Another DB Coach
The Eagles are reportedly bringing in another defensive backs coach to help replace the loss of Dennard Wilson, another coach with Temple ties.
The team is hiring Taver Johnson, a well-traveled secondary coach who most recently had been coaching at Eastern Michigan, according to on3.com.
The Philadelphia #Eagles are expected to hire veteran secondary coach Taver Johnson, sources tell @on3sports.
Johnson had been working at Eastern Michigan. Previously worked in the NFL with the #Raiders and for college teams like Ohio State and Purdue. https://t.co/DlIXY67ten pic.twitter.com/J5lopbVrrP
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) March 21, 2023
The 50-year-old Johnson, who has nearly 30 years of coaching experience at the college and NFL levels, joins D.K. McDonald – last year’s assistant defensive backs coach – and newcomer Ronell Williams, recently added a nickelbacks coach, to coach Eagles defensive backs.
Johnson’s position with the Eagles, in terms of assistant coach or position coach, is unclear by the report.
The Eagles are trying to fill a void left by Wilson, the team’s former defensive backs coach and pass defense coordinator who “parted ways” mutually with the organization in February and joined the Baltimore Ravens after the team hired Sean Desai over him as its new defensive coordinator.
Johnson, who was Temple’s defensive coordinator in 2017, is the second former Owls defensive coordinator to join the coaching staff this season, along with new linebackers coach D.J. Eliot.
Johnson last year coached safeties and served as pass defense coordinator for Eastern Michigan, which went 9-4 with a bowl win over San Jose State. Before there, he was with the Raiders for three years, serving as an offensive assistant in 2021 and as assistant defensive backs coach from 2019-2020.
Among his other coaching stops and positions are: Purdue defensive backs coach (2014-2016), Arkansas assistant head coach/defensive backs coach (2012-2013), Ohio State defensive backs coach (2007-2011), Miami (Ohio) defensive coordinator (2005-2006) and Cleveland Browns assistant special teams coach (2004).
Many of the defensive backs he coached at Ohio State made the NFL, including former Eagles safeties Malcom Jenkins and Kurt Coleman, and Super Bowl champion cornerback Bradley Roby.
– Geoff Mosher (@geoffmoshernfl) is co-host of the “Inside the Birds” podcast and staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.
Listen to the latest Inside The Birds podcast with Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher:
Or watch on YouTube:
Comments are closed here.