Chargers' Kellen Moore, Eagles' Brian Johnson latest Browns offensive coordinator targets

BEREA — Two offensive coordinators who are in a state of flux have joined the list of interviews for the Browns' vacant offensive coordinator job.

Brian Johnson, who was recently fired after one season as Eagles offensive coordinator, is being interviewed by the Browns for their vacancy, a source confirmed for the Beacon Journal. Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot was the first to report.

Also Thursday, the Browns requested permission from the Los Angeles Chargers to speak with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, a source confirmed for the Beacon Journal. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero was the report first.

Pelissero reported the Chargers, who hired University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh Wednesday night, will allow Moore to interview with the Browns and others teams. Harbaugh is expected to bring in his own offensive coordinator.

The Browns have interviewed three known candidates already: Seattle Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and Houston Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson. They parted ways with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, along with running backs coach Stump Mitchell and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney, last week.

Mitchell's position will be filled by former Carolina Panthers — and Eagles — assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley. The Browns were working toward hiring former Alabama and Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees in McCartney's job, with additional pass-game design responsibilities included.

Kellen Moore coordinated explosive Dallas Cowboys offenses

The 35-year-old Moore just completed in his first season as the offensive coordinator for the Chargers, where he worked alongside quarterback Justin Herbert before he suffered a season-ending thumb injury in a December loss to the Denver Broncos. Los Angeles, which fired head coach Brandon Staley on Dec. 15, finished 18th in total yards, 25th in rushing yards and 13th in passing yards.

Moore spent four seasons as Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator from 2019-22. He was the Cowboys' quarterbacks coach in 2018.

Over Moore's four seasons as the Cowboys' OC, Dallas ranked second in the league in total yards (391.0 yards) and scoring (27.7 points a game). The Cowboys also had the fourth-best passing offense (264.4 yards) and seventh-best rushing offense (126.6 yards) over that time.

Under Moore, Dallas led the league in total offense (407.0 yards) and scoring (31.2 points) in 2021. His first season, in 2019, the Cowboys led the league with 431.5 total yards per game, which was the 10th-best single-season performance in NFL history.

The former Boise State University quarterback spent six seasons in the NFL. He was with the Detroit Lions from 2012-14 before ending with the Cowboys from 2015-17.

Former Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson interviews Thursday

Johnson was one of several assistant coaches on Nick Sirianni's staff, including defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who paid the price for the Eagles' precipitous fall from grace this season. After coming within minutes of winning the Super Bowl a year ago, Philadelphia lost six of its last seven games before losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and quarterback Baker Mayfield — in the NFC wild card round.

The 36-year-old Johnson had been elevated to the offensive coordinator position in 2023 after Shane Steichen left that position to become the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. The year before, as the Eagles quarterbacks coach, he was widely praised for developing Jalen Hurts into an NFL Most Valuable Player candidate.

Philadelphia's offense, though, backslid this season. Hurts threw 15 interceptions, while the Eagles offense dropped in points per game (third at 28.1 to seventh at 25.5), passing (ninth at 241.5 to 16th at 225.5) and rushing (fifth at 147.6 to eighth at 128.8).

Johnson had drawn virtual interviews with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans in those teams' first round of head-coaching interviews. The Titans recently hired Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan to replace Mike Vrabel, while the Falcons and Panthers are into the second round of in-person interviews.

The Eagles were the first NFL coaching job for Johnson when he was hired by Sirianni in 2021. Prior to that, his entire coaching tenure had been spent in college as a branch off the Urban Meyer coaching tree.

Meyer originally recruited Johnson in 2004 to play quarterback at the University of Utah, first backing up eventual No. 1 overall pick Alex Smith that first year before starting from 2006-08. A knee injury wiped out his 2005 season.

Johnson started his coaching career at Utah under head coach Kyle Whittingham, who had replaced Meyer when he left for the University of Florida, first as the quarterbacks coach in 2010-11 before adding offensive coordinator to his title in 2012-13. From there, he connected with another former Meyer assistant, Dan Mullen, who he followed to two separate stops: Mississippi State (2014-16) and Florida (2018-20).

Mullen hired Johnson to coach quarterbacks at both schools, while he added the offensive coordinator role to his title in 2020. Between the two SEC stops, Johnson spent the 2017 season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Houston.

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns add Brian Johnson, Kellen Moore to offensive coordinator pool