Bears new head coach Ben Johnson is starting to fill key positions on his staff, hiring ex-Saints head coach Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Johnson has also landed on Broncos tight ends coach Declan Doyle as his offensive coordinator, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Hiring Allen is hardly a surprise; he was mentioned as Johnson’s preferred DC as soon as the former Lions coach arrived in Chicago. Doyle interviewed with the Bears, but his relative youth and inexperience made him a somewhat unexpected pick. Notably, both coaches are part of Sean Payton‘s coaching tree and even overlapped for one season in New Orleans.
The Bears also elected to retain special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, despite reported interest in Darren Rizzi, another Payton disciple. This has been a big day for the 2024 Saints’ play-callers, despite the team’s 5-12 record. The Seahawks hired 2024 Saints OC Klint Kubiak as well.
At 28 years old, Doyle will be the youngest active coordinator and one of the youngest in NFL history; he has just five NFL seasons under his belt. Doyle’s first three came as an offensive assistant with the Saints, two under Payton and one under Allen. He then reunited with Payton in Denver, though the Broncos’ tight ends hardly featured in the offense during Doyle’s tenure.
Doyle won’t call plays in Chicago, per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Those duties will remain with Johnson, though Doyle will obviously play a crucial role in shaping the Bears’ offense as they head into a second season with last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams. Doyle’s priority will likely be a leaky offensive line that allowed a league-high 68 sacks in 2024. Their struggles contributed to the Bears finishing near the bottom of the league in several offensive categories, including a league-low 4,820 total yards. Doyle’s key offensive weapons include wide receivers D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze as well as running back D’Andre Swift. The former tight ends coach will also look to revitalize Cole Kmet, who took a step back last season after posting career-highs in receptions and receiving yards in 2023.
Allen, meanwhile, will take over a Bears defense that finished 27th in yards allowed but 13th in points allowed in 2024. Chicago’s run defense was among the worst in the league, but they allowed just 17 touchdowns through the air, the fewest in the NFL. Allen will have a solid starting secondary, though the future of safety Jaquan Brisker is uncertain after missing most of the season due to his third concussion in three years. Allen will have more work to do along the defensive line, where the Bears lack high-level talent outside of Montez Sweat.
The Saints fired Allen after 2 1/2 seasons. The franchise’s continuity plan did not work, but GM Mickey Loomis was not ready to move on compared to where ownership was. Allen went 18-25 as Saints HC; that followed a miserable 8-28 mark overseeing the Raiders from 2012-14. While Allen has not worked out as a head coach, he played a key role in forming Saints contenders during his second stint in New Orleans. After Allen’s Oakland ouster, he reunited with Payton and soon took over as Saints DC.
After a woeful mid-2010s stretch, the Saints’ defense recovered under Allen. From 2017-21, the team posted a top-10 total defense in five consecutive seasons. This Bears chance will be Allen’s fifth as either a DC or HC. Following a tenure in which he collected a Super Bowl ring as Saints DBs coach, Allen will begin the 2025 season having either been a head coach or DC in 15 of the past 16 seasons. That represents considerable experience compared to Doyle, who will be riding shotgun to Johnson on offense.
With his three coordinators in place, as well as a few key assistants, Johnson’s first (and arguably most important) moves as head coach are complete. Now, he will turn his attention to the Bears’ offseason roster priorities as he tries to return the storied franchise to competitive relevance.
Best coaching staff the Bears have ever had
Either Murphy is highly optimistic, very young or hilarious. Not sure which one
Mike Ditka might have something to say about that….
George Halas —- hold my beer
39 years ago this evening,the Bears won the Super Bowl. That team was run by a guy named Ditka & the defense by the great Buddy Ryan. They scored 456 points while allowing only 198. I’m guessing that staff still might have a leg up on these guys
“Were not here to cause no trouble… Were just here to do the “The Super Bowl Shuffle”…. Over $300,000 in profits from the song and music video were donated to the Chicago Community Trust to help Chicago families in need with clothing, shelter and food.
It’s the Walter Payton Man of the Year… His line in “The Super Bowl Shuffle” — “Now we’re not doing this because we’re greedy / The Bears are doing it to feed the needy”.
Food for thought.
I still might have that and the Super Bowl in VHS tapes somewhere
Thank goodness the Bears didn’t play football as bad as they danced.
Staff coming along nicely!
Not bad
O’Doyle rules
Strong defensive coach, worked with a lot of people Johnson worked with in Detroit, and gives Johnson an experienced head coach on staff. Sensible hire.
I don’t know much about Declan. Johnson must believe he has a lot of potential.. Allen is a strong choice.
Ben Johnson did say he would be hiring an OC that was gonna be working a lot of hours and late nights to queue up the prep for Johnson to do the offensive game plan. Declan fits the bill as a young up and coming assistant under Sean Peyton making his next career move. Fingers crossed. Now we need two SOLID experienced offensive and defensive lines coaches.
I like the DC move, I think it shows the Bears do not want to just focus on Williams development, but to ensure they can stop the other team from scoring as well as this Defense clearly needs some work still.
The OC just needs to convince the receivers that they have to help Williams when he scrambles and not just stand at the end of their route with their hand half up.
Now let’s fix the O & D lines..
The Bears have their QB and supporting cast of WR’s, a lot of cap space, high draft position and very clear positions of need. Sure they need depth and can upgrade other positions as well but if Ryan Poles doesn’t bring in significant talent for both lines this offseason then he should be fired.
Declan Doyle is the same age as some NFL players, with just a few years experience “coaching” (but never playing). His father got called out for treating black players poorly at Iowa. While I get Johnson will be running the offense himself, there had to be someone better out there. The Dennis Allen hire is good, Johnson will need someone with HC experience in the coaches conference room.
Shaw never seemed like a real option. I said before the job seemed like a job for a young guy who could pad a resume’ and be a caddie for Johnson and it seems like that’s exactly what they got. I like the coaching staff so far but still a couple of important pieces to fill in most importantly the O and D line coaches. Dennis Allen is a solid DC hire and like I said I thought Hightower did his job pretty well. FA will be key this year. Everyone keeps talking up this guy Trey Smith from the Chiefs. I have doubts he would leave there but anything is possible I guess. Might be better to spread the money out than chase expensive O line dreams.
I’m sure Marcedes Lewis loves the OC being a former TE coach…he’ll get to play until he’s 50 now 🙂
Allen is a good choice for DC. Would not have been pleased if he got away. Rumor has it that he agreed to take the job through back channels but the Bears needed to comply with NFL rules and and policy. Bit surprised the Bears didn’t attach the Assistant HC title like they did with Randal El. With Randle El that was likely done for a promotion purpose to get him from the Lions. Hightower makes some sense keeping as ST Coordinator as he knows the players and was decent. Doyle as OC? That’s a little questionable to me. Not much experience. Obviously, Johnson sees something. Doyle will be a project. Didn’t understand David Shaw interviewing for the OC job. Considering he interviewed for the HC job, looking at his overall body of work in the NFL especially recently, he appeared to be taking a step back. Now if Ian Cunningham leaves or left the organization, I can see a position in the front office. Let’s see how Allen fills out his staff.