If there was one hire by head coach Ben Johnson who could be categorized as a mystery, it was new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. The 28-year-old has only been in the NFL for six years. Only two were spent as an actual position coach, running the tight ends for the Denver Broncos. That group hadn’t done anything special, so what was the allure of bringing Doyle in? Yes, Johnson will call the plays for the Chicago Bears, but one would think he’d prefer somebody with more experience to help keep things organized.
Why Doyle? Well, stories have begun emerging about him from Denver and New Orleans over the past few weeks. Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic caught wind of them at the Senior Bowl. Apparently, the young assistant has a reputation for being a genius with a work ethic to match. Despite only being a position coach, he prepared as if he were already a coordinator. People who encountered him couldn’t believe how fast he picked things up, even to the point where he was teaching retired All-Pros about the game.
It was eye-opening.
“He’s been preparing as if he’s an offensive coordinator from the very beginning,” said Upshaw, who coached the National team running backs at the Senior Bowl. “He builds his own play call sheet. He watches all the film. He puts his own runs and stuff in.”
In Denver, Doyle gave a presentation about shifts and motions to read a defense.
“I was like, how do you already know to do that?” Upshaw said. “Being a young coach, you’re trying to learn. He was showing that aspect.”
Former Saints offensive lineman Jahri Evans was a coaching intern in 2022 when Doyle was an offensive assistant.
“He’s a real smart guy,” Evans said. “He has to be the youngest OC in history? Bananas. I’m excited for him. He would show me some stuff on the computer that I was learning, he was teaching me a few things. Excited to see what he could cook up with that young quarterback.”
Ben Johnson probably saw himself in Declan Doyle.
The Bears head coach also had a reputation for being a young whiz kid not too long ago. Stories of his time in Miami practically mirror the same things said about Doyle: highly intelligent and an absolute grinder about work. Head coaches have a tendency to seek out assistants who are like-minded as them. Bill Belichick did it all the time in Cleveland and New England. Johnson likely knows what he can expect from Doyle because it is the same as he expects from himself. Such things can be reassuring for a young head coach.
Expectations around the league are high for him. Many feel Doyle should’ve been a coordinator already and it is only a matter of time before he becomes a head coach himself. If this is true, the Bears will benefit in a big way. Don’t be surprised if certain big plays or fun tricks get credited to him at some point this season. Ben Johnson loves experimenting. He needs other coaches to help generate ideas. It sounds like Doyle will be one of his most trusted sounding boards.
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We increasingly live in a post-truth era that is neither romantic nor rational. It’s a void worse than the Middle Ages, but you just don’t know it yet. Now let’s root for those Bears playing with the Eagles.
Gotta stop romanticizing these assistant coach hirings. Doyle is an amazing wunderkind, Bienimi is the RB coach to unlock running game and Roushar is the difference in OLine. All of it is good because we know nothing about them. Anyone remember how revered Morgan was when he was hired? Here’s what matters, Ben Johnson wants them and that’s it. Doyle is not going to run the offense. The main guys are Ben and Allen. The rest are soldiers. I understand the importance of day to day work of assistant coaches so I’m not trying to minimize them, but give it… Read more »
I remember when people thought Waldron would probably leave to be a head coach after a couple of years as Bears OC. Well that flamed out now didn’t it. The jury is still out on Doyle. Let’s see if him and Johnson can build a top 5 offense and keep it on top before we hand the wiz kid any trophies.
Gotta say, I share a lot of the enthusiasm here.
That said, remember that this is a process. We can’t expect the Bears to open the season by hanging 50 points on their first three opponents. My hope is to see steady improvement, to see individual players playing somewhat better due to better coaching, and the team as a whole playing somewhat better because of good scheme. Combine those two effects, and then give them some time to get really good at doing it, and then they could become a top shelf team.
Excited for the future.
It should be interesting to see what he can dream up, regarding plays. Hopefully the Bears offense will look radically different for a change and throw the defense off their game.