By Dianna Russini, Jeff Howe, Kevin Fishbain and Jelani Scott
The Chicago Bears have found their new coordinators under first-year head coach Ben Johnson.
The Bears are bringing in former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen to make him their defensive coordinator, team and league sources told The Athletic Sunday. The team is also hiring Denver Broncos tight ends coach Declan Doyle to serve as the offensive coordinator, according to a team source. Chicago is retaining special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, according to a league source.
Allen, 52, was widely believed to be the favorite to join Johnson in Chicago on the heels of the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator becoming the Bears’ coach on Jan. 21. Chicago will be Allen’s third stint as an NFL DC, with his first coming in 2011 with Denver and the second a seven-year run as the Saints DC.
A respected and highly-touted defensive mind, Allen represents a major get for Johnson and Chicago as the longtime coach looks to rebound from a trying stint as the Saints head coach. New Orleans fired Allen on Nov. 4 after starting the 2024 season 2-7, ending his three-year run at the helm with a 18-25 mark. Allen brings with him to Chicago 20-plus years of experience on a NFL sideline.
The Bears’ job will be Doyle’s first as a coordinator following six years as an NFL assistant. He has served as tight ends coach under Denver coach Sean Payton for the past two seasons, and previously worked as a Saints offensive assistant from 2019-22. He and Allen were on the same Saints staff in 2022. Johnson is calling the plays in Chicago but Doyle will be a key figure in helping to design an offense around quarterback Caleb Williams, who will be entering his second season.
Adding Allen a big coup for Bears
The most important hire for an offensive-minded head coach is the defensive coordinator. With Johnson calling plays in addition to being a head coach for the first time, it was important for him to have a veteran running the defense.
Consider Allen the head coach of the defense, which will suit the experienced coach well — he’s been a head coach twice in his career. The Saints have been one of the league’s most efficient defenses over the past decade with Allen overseeing things, both as the coordinator and then the head coach.
While Johnson never worked with Allen, there’s a strong New Orleans connection — Lions head coach Dan Campbell was with Allen and the Saints.
“I would tell you we faced that defense a year ago when he was in New Orleans and gained a lot of respect for it,” Johnson said last week. “I think everywhere he has been along the way, they have been a top third-down team, a top red zone team. So there are a lot of pillars about what he does schematically that would be appealing to me. He has worked with Aaron Glenn. he has worked with Dan Campbell. Both speak very highly of him.”
For his offensive coordinator, Johnson went the opposite direction, hiring a 28-year-old in Doyle, who clearly has the coaching chops, as he’s been good enough for Payton in Denver. He actually got his start in New Orleans under Payton and stuck around working with Allen, so there’s some synergy there.
Hightower returning as special teams coordinator makes a lot of sense. The Bears ranked fifth in special-teams DVOA last season, with punter Tory Taylor bursting onto the scene. Kicker Cairo Santos had another strong season, and the team had three special-teams player of the week awards, finishing with Josh Blackwell’s punt-return touchdown in the season finale.
With several young players on that unit familiar with Hightower already, Johnson can keep the full group together. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears senior writer
Required reading
(Photo: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
