The ‘Ben Johnson era’ is underway in Chicago, and he has already filled out a some of his coaching roster, including defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator, and special teams coordinator, as well as various position specific coaches.

DC: Dennis Allen

Allen was the head coach of the Saints from the start of 2022 to week 9 of this season, after serving as their defensive coordinator under Sean Payton. Although he has failed as a head coach two times, and will probably never be a head coach again in this league, he is someone who at can be the Bears version of Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

He will be able to stick around and maintain his  job without the constant threat of being hired somewhere else, and if he does a good job, should be able to stay with the Bears for the foreseeable future. During his time in New Orleans he took a very bad defense and turned it into a perennial top 5 unit in the league. This looks to be a very good hire for my Bears. Allen’s scheme is very similar to Matt Eberflus’s, so the defense will not have to be completely overhauled as well. Allen was the immediate front runner for this job as soon as Ben Johnson was hired, making it a great get for my Bears. Ben Johnson got his guy.

OC: Declan Doyle

At 28 years old, this a young hire for the Bears, although he will not being calling plays. Like Dennis Allen, he has worked under Sean Payton throughout his career, including stints with the Saints and the Broncos. Doyle served as an offensive assistant for the Saints during 2019-2022 before following Sean Payton to the Broncos, where he has been the tight end coach for the past two seasons. He is not as a seasoned as some of the other coaches that Chicago looked at to fill the offensive coordinator role, including former Stanford head coach David Shaw, but he won’t be calling the plays, giving him lots of time to develop under the intuition of Ben Johnson.

Special Teams Coordinator: Richard Hightower

Ben Johnson decided to retain Richard Hightower on the staff as the special teams coordinator. Entering his third season with the Bears, he has done a good job with the special teams for the most part. His trick play against the Packers in Week 18 was one of the main reasons Chicago finally beat the Packers.

After Ben Johnson was hired the Bears, Chicago was rumored to be looking at Saints special teams coordinator turned interim head coach Darren Rizzi, but in the end Johnson decided to retain Hightower. Besides some kicking mishaps which seem to have been resolved, Hightower has done a nice job for Chicago, and is likely to be the only staff member from the Eberflus era that sticks around.

Assistant HC/Receivers Coach: Antwaan Randle El

Coach Randle El was with Ben Johnson in Detroit as the wide receivers coach and was one of the coaches that Ben Johnson brought with him to Chicago. He is a Chicago native which could be one of the reasons he left Detroit and followed Ben Johnson to the ‘Windy City’. Over his time in Detroit he was worked with some great wide receivers such as Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown who both saw massive boost in production over the four years that they where coached by Randle El.

This is a big get for Ben Johnson as Randle El is going to bring back accountability to this Bears locker room, specifically when it comes to Bears star receiver D.J. Moore, who at times over the season looked out of it and was accused of showing a lack of effort. He should also do a great Job developing Rome Odunze into the wide receiver one that he was drafted to be.

Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach: Al Harris

I think this is biggest get for the Bears when it comes to this coaching staff. Cowboys fans on social media said that they would rather have Al Harris become the head coach compared to Brian Schottenheimer. He played a key role in developing some of the Cowboys star players such as Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, who both have become Pro Bowl players and have developed into some of the top corners in the league when healthy.

This is a big get for a Bears secondary that is already pretty strong with the likes of Kyler Gordon, Jaylen Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Jaquan Brisker. If he can turn Tyrique into a solid “CB2”, the Bears should easily have a top three secondary in the league, with Jaylen Johnson already being regarded as one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL. The Bears secondary should be very, very good next year.

Final Thoughts

Ben Johnson is developing a really great staff, and looks to be picking the guys that fit the culture he wants to bring to Chicago. Hopefully the Bears are able to convert this off the field and offseason success into some actually success on the field. As the Bears look to finally not ruin a first round quarterback, I have very high hopes for Caleb this season. I do expect Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles to heavily look into the trenches on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball in the draft and free agency, seeing as one of the reasons Ben Johnson offense was so successful in Detroit was because of his o-line. The Bears are back.