The Chicago Bears spent the past few days after hiring Ben Johnson as head coach figuring out their coordinator situation. Richard Hightower will be retained on special teams. The big ones were offense and defense. After conducting some interviews, it appears they reached their decision on Sunday night. Former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen will take over as the defensive coordinator, a job he’s found considerable success at with other organizations. The bigger surprise was at offensive coordinator, which is going to former Denver Broncos tight ends coach Declan Doyle.
Both coaches have direct ties to longtime head coach Sean Payton, who was a big part of Dan Campbell’s ascent to head coaching himself in Detroit. Johnson no doubt got those recommendations from him. Allen is a tremendous hire. He took over a defense that was the worst in the NFL in 2015 and transformed it into a top-10 unit by 2017. They would stay there for multiple seasons. Doyle is more of a mystery. He is only 28 years old and didn’t start coaching in the NFL until six years ago when he joined the Saints as an offensive assistant. The fact Payton brought him to Denver is a surefire sign he has a high opinion of the young man.
The Chicago Bears may not be done digging into former Saints.
There are already rumblings they’ve tagged veteran offensive line coach Dan Roushar for the job. He was with that organization for eight seasons, during which he developed multiple future Pro Bowlers. Allen is also connected to defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen, most recently the defensive coordinator in Jacksonville but now likely a free agent. Both men are considered two of the best at their respective jobs. There are two notable positions left on offense to fill: running backs and tight ends.
Doyle’s role with be focused on organization, game planning, and crafting plays. Johnson will call plays. It is possible he liked Doyle because tight end coaches have a knack for gaining knowledge about both the run and pass games. The fact he’s so young also means he’s hungry to ascend. Such motivation usually leads to productive output. Johnson would know. He was in the same position with Detroit at one point. If nothing else, this means the Bears will have much-needed stability on their staff. Neither Doyle nor Allen are likely to get poached for head coaching jobs anytime soon.
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My man BEN is the best the Bears could get. But it is only 50-50 that he will be highly successful in Chicago. I shall not elaborate on the restraints and impediments he will still confront even without the inept Poles’ meddling.
@Sallie “Your man” Ben? Are these guys race horses that we have money on? My guess is that he’ll do pretty good. First, control the damn coaches and get some work out of them. Rectify any coaching issues or fire them. I’ll be watching every UDFA, every draft pick, every player on the practice squad, every non-starter. That will tell me whether this team goes to the playoffs, and on, or not. No team wins JUST with Mahomes, Allen, Daniels, Jackson, Stafford, Mayfield, or whomever the star is. A BAD quarterback (DeShaun Watson) CAN ruin seasons and teams, but the… Read more »
Ben Johnson is doing what I would expect ANY competent head coach would do: hiring old and young, diverse offenses, defenses, perspectives, to fortify the future of the Bears, by giving them both exposure and experience. The most telling thing about Ben Johnson was last year in Detroit. He stepped back, away from the immediate hiring, picked his targeted job and watched the Bears collapse. He could have put his hat in the ring for Carolina, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Chargers, but he stepped back. He knows himself, the challenges, and how to approach them. If Dennis Allen signs, that is… Read more »
We’re all talking about how bad the Bears have been, and how they need to get better, compete and hopefully get to the Super Bowl in a few years. An NFL team has 53 players, plus IR, plus practice squad plus whichever free agents they sign during the year. Do you realize that the Republican Party just agreed to the nomination for the guy to head the Department of Defense (3 million employees), a guy who has never run anything larger than 40 people, got fired both times for mismanagement, is an alcoholic, but talks like a podcaster with an… Read more »
I’m not understanding all the dislikes on @DrStevenSallie comments? I don’t disagree with anything he’s said. Especially his breakdown of what is expected of Doyle. If the Johnson hire ends up being a good one (fingers crossed) that OC position is simply going to be a training/apprentice position for these coordinators. If it works out it will become a coveted position to get if the OCs develop and become successful HCs in the league. Maybe in 15 years they will talk about the Ben Johnson coaching tree.