Here are 5 of the most interesting things the Chicago Bears' new coordinators said Thursday

The Bears’ new coordinators met with reporters virtually Thursday for the first time since the team announced their hirings.

New head coach Ben Johnson brought in a mix of old and new with his first group of coordinators. He hired Dennis Allen, who has head coaching experience with two teams, as his defensive coordinator and brought in 28-year-old Declan Doyle as his offensive coordinator. Johnson also retained special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, who served under previous head coach Matt Eberflus since 2022.

Johnson and his new coordinators will now get to work as the offseason progresses. They’ll need to hire the rest of the team’s coaching staff and also prepare for free agency and the draft in the coming months.

Here are five of the most interesting things they said Thursday.

On Allen’s role in Chicago

Allen felt comfortable joining Johnson’s staff even though the two didn’t know each other that well.

Johnson reached out to Allen at the end of this season after the New Orleans Saints fired him as their head coach and asked if Allen wanted to be his defensive coordinator. The two researched each other through their different connections and felt they could be a good fit.

“I’m appreciative of the opportunity to come here, the opportunity that [Johnson] and the organization have given me to come here and be a part of this,” Allen said. “My job is to do everything I possibly can to help these players play to the best of their ability and to help our head coach, Ben Johnson, be successful. And that’s my sole focus and my sole purpose for being here.”

Allen seemed like the perfect pairing for Johnson as a first-time head coach. Apart from proving himself to be one of the top defensive minds in the NFL, Allen also served as a head coach twice. He led the then-Oakland Raiders in 2012-14 and ran the Saints from 2022 to November.

“My job is to do everything I possibly can to help these players play to the best of their ability and to help our head coach, Ben Johnson, be successful. And that’s my sole focus and my sole purpose for being here.”

—  Dennis Allen, Chicago Bears defensive coordinator

When asked whether he wanted to be a head coach again, Allen said he’s only focused on where he is at the moment. That includes providing Johnson with any help during his transition.

“I’m excited about this opportunity for him,” Allen said. “He’s fully prepared and fully capable of doing an outstanding job, and whatever he needs me to do, I’ll be here to try to help him in any way I can.”

On Allen’s defense

Allen built a strong reputation as a defensive coordinator with his aggressive style of defense. He’s planning on bringing that to the Bears.

“We want to take the fight to the offense and not let the offense dictate the tempo to us,” Allen said. “We’re going to be aggressive. We’re going to challenge everything. We’re going to play the game the right way. We’re going to play a tough, physical brand of football. I think the brand of football that you come to expect at the Chicago Bears.”

Allen proved he can transform a defense and take it near the top. The Saints ranked near the bottom of the league in yards and points allowed per game when Allen rejoined them in 2015. As its defensive coordinator and head coach, New Orleans ranked top 10 in those categories from 2020 to 2022 and finished in the top half in 2023.

Johnson will rely on Allen to elevate the defense’s play after it failed to reach its full potential last season. The Bears' defense had a strong first half of the season and kept the team in games when the offense struggled. But that collapsed toward the second half, especially after the Bears fired Eberflus.

Allen said he liked the defense’s foundation. He highlighted the strong play of safety Kyler Gordon and the versatility of the secondary, and thought there were good pieces at linebacker and the defensive line.

Now it’s just fitting it together and seeing what needs to be added.

“Our job is to develop, so we’re going to take the pieces that we have in place, we’re going to add the necessary ingredients that we need to create, what we need to be able to do from a defensive standpoint,” Allen said. “So I’m excited about working with the guys that we have, and I’m looking forward to working with [general manager] Ryan [Poles] and his staff to see if we can’t find some pieces to add to it.”

On Doyle’s offensive responsibilities

Johnson emphasized the importance of his offensive coordinator hire during his introductory news conference last week. With the added responsibility of being a head coach, Johnson said he’d heavily rely on his hire at the beginning of each week to scout the Bears’ opponent and set the foundation for the week’s play calling.

Doyle clearly understood the assignment.

“I have to do that work that he’s not going to have time to do, and he’s going to have to be able to trust me, that I’m going to be able to give him the correct information that he needs as a decision maker,” Doyle said. “And then really throughout the week, streamlining the teaching progression for the players and making sure that everything is built around them.”

He’s learned from some of the best to do it. During his time with the Saints and the Denver Broncos, Doyle watched Sean Payton and his offensive coordinators work out a plan so Payton could manage both his head coaching and play-calling responsibilities.

Doyle emphasized the importance of a high level of communication to ensure a smooth process and make sure that everyone knows what they’re trying to accomplish.

“The biggest thing is that you’re on the same page as the play caller, and so me and Ben are going to have to spend a ton of time together diving into film,” Doyle said. “I’m really, really excited to go do that and to make sure that I see the game the same way he sees it, to be able to orchestrate it and set the table for him – and really make sure that we’re doing it the way he wants to do it.”

On Caleb Williams

Aside from helping with the play calling, Doyle will help Johnson develop quarterback Caleb Williams.

Doyle didn’t get a chance to watch Williams outside of the NFC North as much as Johnson did, but Williams’ talent was clear to Doyle during last year’s draft process and watching tape from last season.

“His second act, his ability to evade the pocket, his ability to create is a special thing, and it’s something that I got to see with Bo [Nix] in Denver last year,” Doyle said. “That ability to evade and put pressure on a defense and kind of be the eraser of game-planning mistakes, I think that’s really exciting about him.”

He’s hoping to replicate what the Broncos did with Nix in Chicago. Doyle said Denver reshaped its offense and did things it hadn’t done before to set Nix up for success, including allowing Nix to try and evade the pocket and get out into space.

Although he’s just started, Doyle is looking forward to watching all of Williams’ tape and finding the same solution for his new quarterback.

“I think, first and foremost, Caleb being in here, going through all of his tape, evaluating what we feel like he’s good at, what we feel like he’s really capable of going out and being the best in the world at, excelling at it and trying to shape and build the offense around that,” Doyle said. “I would say that’s what we tried to do with Bo. And that’s what we’re going to do here.”

On Hightower staying

Ever since Hightower joined the league as a coach in 2006, he’s always approached his coaching career as if he’s on a one-day contract. So he genuinely didn’t know whether he’d be back with the Bears when Johnson took over.

But after talking to Johnson, Hightower quickly realized he wanted to stay and be a part of his staff.

“He was clear and concise from the get-go and very transparent about everything that was occurring,” Hightower said. “So his passion for special teams really was exciting to me, and not only for special teams, but connecting all three phases together, playing complementary football was just really exciting to me. So I’m excited to be back and help these guys reach the next level.”

Part of that connection came from Johnson’s aggressive approach to the game. During Johnson’s time under Dan Campbell with the Detroit Lions, Campbell was known for being aggressive and going for it on fourth down in various situations.

Hightower saw the value in that aggression and how being aggressive on special teams can benefit the team.

“Ben has an aggressive mindset, and I love that,” Hightower said. “Really, what people don’t understand about special teams is that when you have that aggressive mindset out of special teams … it helps the other two phases and it helps your football team so much to win games. That was really intriguing and exciting to me. I’m fired up about that.”