Chicago Bears Officially Hire Two New Coordinators

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.