Ben Johnson knew the most important hire for his staff was the defensive coordinator. He would need somebody who could handle that side of the ball with lots of autonomy while he took care of things on offense. The name that surfaced almost immediately was Dennis Allen, the former New Orleans Saints head coach. It was a minor surprise since the two had never worked together before. However, Allen had worked with Dan Campbell in New Orleans, which likely helped lead to a bridge of communication between the two.
Still, Allen being a big name couldn’t have been the only reason Johnson wanted him on his staff. Sure enough, details finally emerged courtesy of Albert Breer of The MMQB. Much of the allure stems from how Allen runs his defense. Johnson wants to deploy a unit that emulates much of what the Detroit Lions accomplished over the past three years under Aaron Glenn. As it turns out, Glenn got his primary education from Allen when they two were together in New Orleans.
Dennis Allen has a clear vision for the defenses he runs.
Two themes tend to develop when he’s in charge. He wanted strong and explosive defensive linemen and ballhawk defensive backs. This is the exact method Detroit employed with Glenn. Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill were two dynamic linemen who could win with power or quickness. Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, and Terrion Arnold all had reputations for taking the ball away. Throw in linebackers who are outstanding run defenders, and you’ve got a picture of Allen’s defensive formula.
The good news is that the Bears are already somewhat equipped in that department. Montez Sweat and Gervon Dexter fill the strong, explosive defensive linemen void. Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and Tyrique Stevenson are solid ballhawks. Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards are solid run defenders. Dennis Allen has plenty to work with upon arrival. Still, it will be interesting to see how the team attacks the coming off-season to better fit his vision.
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@Slip Knotz Totally agree on the need for more outside pass rush. With DT though, my point was more that the skill set to do what Allen asks of his DT’s is far less rare and even pretty plentiful around the league, and the Bears already have some people in the middle that seem to really fit the profile he’s had a lot of success with previously. I mean even if you look at Billings, he’s not really some special or unique talent, but he is stout as hell playing a 2 gap scheme and holding up against double teams… Read more »
Jimmy Johnson ran a clogging DT 4-3 style years ago and it worked fine because he had a talented D-Line. Any Defense fails if you don’t get the right players which is what happened with the Tampa 2 here. Having no depth behind Billings and Sweat doesn’t mean the scheme is a failure. You can’t really coach Austin Booker to be 50 pounds heavier or coach D-Marc to be a quicker man. Detroit has a great D-Line mostly because of their talent. Detroit has a great O-Line mostly because of their talent. I am glad we’ll have Allen as our… Read more »
One more thing to add since my previous comment…I just listened to an interview with a long time Saints analyst giving his take on Dennis Allen and his scheme. He talked specifically about how his defense did drop off from elite a few years ago, to middle of the road, particularly because they lost the ability to stop the run. More interestingly, though, is that he said the reason for it was that Allen depends on having two defensive tackles that can effectively stop the interior running game, leaving his DE’s to speed rush and linebackers to roam free. In… Read more »
@Dr. Melhus I think we might be diminishing Edmunds’ capabilities because he was hurt by Eberflus’ scheme. With the Tampa 2, the middle linebacker is asked to be superman and be the primary defender of the deep middle. It takes a really special talent to be able to consistently do that AND be able to step up as a run stuffer. Even Urlacher, who excelled at the deep middle coverage and running side line to side line was not great at stepping up and taking on a power running game that came right at him. Teams that gave him the… Read more »
Johnson probably also likes the idea of someone on his staff with prior head coach experience to lean on if he needs to.