Bears hiring Doyle, Allen as top assistants
Ben Johnson has his top lieutenants.
The new Bears head coach is set to hire former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen as his defensive coordinator and 28-year-old Declan Doyle as his offensive coordinator, per multiple reports.
The Bears will also reportedly retain Richard Hightower as special teams coordinator.
Allen comes to Chicago after three years as the head coach in New Orleans. He previously served as a head coach with the Raiders from 2012 to 2014. He spent the next seven years as Sean Payton’s defensive coordinator in New Orleans before taking over as head coach in 2022.
Allen, 52, will bring valuable head coaching experience to Johnson’s coaching staff. He could be someone who Johnson, a first-time head coach, could lean on.
Allen has also been a top defensive coach in the NFL for the past two decades. His Saints defenses were particularly tough from 2020-22. Allen’s teams traditionally run a 4-3 base defense, which is the same scheme the Bears played under former head coach Matt Eberflus.
Allen had been linked to the Bears ever since Johnson was hired last Monday. Johnson said this week at Halas Hall he had never met Allen, but he has heard good things from Lions head coach Dan Campbell and new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn.
“I would tell you we faced that (Saints) defense a year ago when he was in New Orleans and gained a lot of respect for it,” Johnson said. “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.”
On the offensive side, Johnson plans to call the plays. But he still needs an offensive coordinator.
Doyle was most recently the tight ends coach for the Denver Broncos. Before Denver, Doyle spent four seasons as an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints from 2019-22. He worked for Payton in both New Orleans and Denver.
Doyle was a student assistant at Iowa from 2016-18. He graduated from Iowa in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in business management. Doyle is a native of Iowa City, Iowa and he is the son of former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle.
Hightower, 44, spent the past three seasons as the special teams coordinator for Eberflus. Before that, he spent five seasons in the same role for the San Francisco 49ers.
He will provide some continuity for a Bears team in transition.
The Bears are also bringing in former Lions assistant and Thornton Twp. alum Antwaan Randle El as the wide receivers coach, and former Cowboys assistant Al Harris as the defensive passing game coordinator, per reports.