New Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson got the defensive coordinator he wanted in former New Orleans Saints Head Coach Dennis Allen, and hired an offensive whiz kid in 28-year-old Declan Doyle.
With Richard Hightower returning to run special teams, Johnson has the key pieces of his staff in place.
Bringing in Allen is a savvy move for Johnson, as Johnson begins his rookie year of managing an entire team. The two-time head coach and longtime defensive coordinator understands his current role as a consigliere, and knows Johnson is the one running the show.
"My job is to use all the experience that I have to help him be as successful as he can be, and so I don't look at it as my job is to go in there and tell him what I think he needs to do. My job is to be a sounding board for him," Allen said. "If he's got questions; if he's got, you know, things he wants to run by me, I'll be glad to give him my opinion. But I'm excited about this opportunity for him. He's fully prepared."
Allen said he was very pleased that Johnson wanted him to come to the Bears.
"When Ben asked me if I would be interested, there was a couple of places that I felt like had the pieces in place to potentially be a really good football team, and Chicago was obviously one of them, and so I was excited when it came about when this was the job he really wanted and this was the job he was able to get," he said. "I was excited he wanted me to come along with him."
Johnson himself will be focusing on developing Caleb Williams, while Allen is tasked with taking out opposing quarterbacks.
"This has become a quarterback-driven league. I mean, that's what this league is. And so I think everything that we do is going to be based on, how do we affect the quarterback?" Allen said. "And you affect the quarterback through rushing coverage, and that's what the pinnacle of team defense is all about."
Allen, 52, has twice been an NFL head coach — also for the Las Vegas Raiders. Doyle, meanwhile, will be the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL — coming off two seasons as Sean Payton's tight end coordinator in with the Denver Broncos.
Doyle also worked with Allen as an offensive assistant with the Saints from 2019 to 2022.
"I think knowledge is power, and that is what the guys care about, ultimately. Last year was the first time that I've ever actually been older than all the players in my room, and so, you know, I've been coaching — this is going to be my 10th year," Doyle said. "But that's really kind of been a part of, you know, my journey to this point."
As offensive coordinator, Doyle said he sees himself in a "table-setting role."
"Ben is going to have less time than he's ever had as a play-caller, but my job is really going to be to organize and detail, you know, the game plan initially — utilizing our staff," he said. "Everybody will have different assignments, kind of how we are going to build this thing schematically as we attack a defense."
