When Ben Johnson became the head coach of the Chicago Bears, he clearly took lessons from his former boss, Dan Campbell, with him.
Campbell assembled a coaching staff that was the envy of the league. Johnson prioritized having an experienced defensive coordinator (Dennis Allen) while taking a couple of Lions coaches (Antwaan Randle El and J.T. Barrett) with him. And it's fair to say he wanted to take another Lions' assistant with him (Hank Fraley), but it did not come to fruition.
The offensive coordinator role under a head coach who will call the offensive plays, as Johnson does, is not insignificant. But with play-calling duties not available, any perceived top candidate for that job under a new head coach was probably not really in play for Johnson to hire.
Through Week 11 this season, the Bears have a top-10 scoring offense (25.8 points per game). They are also top-five in total offense (373.8 yards per game), with the league's second-best rushing attack (146.6 yards per game).
Johnson easily gets the lion''s share of the credit for all of that, but he would say his staff deserves an equal share.
Ben Johnson appears to have the next version of himself on his staff
With more proven options surely off the table, Johnson hired Declan Doyle as the Bears' offensive coordinator. The then-28-year-old had spent the previous two seasons as the Denver Broncos' tight ends coach, and he had been an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints for three years before that.
So, even without game day play-calling duties, Doyle was going to be taking a big step up in responsibility this season. Even in the relative background of the success the Bears' offense has had, so far, so good.
Ahead of the 2026 hiring cycle, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero is out with his annual list of young head coaching candidates to watch and Doyle is on it.
"One of the youngest coordinators in modern NFL history, Doyle spent three years as a student assistant at Iowa before then-Saints coach Sean Payton hired him as an offensive assistant in 2019. When Payton ended a one-year retirement to take the Broncos' head coaching job, he hired Doyle as tight ends coach in Denver, where Doyle spent two seasons before Ben Johnson hand-picked him to serve as OC. With the Bears off to a fast start and QB Caleb Williams playing better, Doyle's pedigree could compel some teams to at least want to pick his brain in January."
The idea of Doyle as a future coaching candidate is not out of left field. Heading into the season, Jacob Infante of Pro Football Network tabbed him as the top future head coaching candidate on the Bears' staff. Nothing has happened this season to curb that notion.
It's unlikely Doyle would make the jump to head coach before his 30th birthday, even after just one season as a coordinator. But like Pelissero suggested in the lead to list, there's a lack of perceived top-tier candidates in the 2026 hiring cycle.
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So the Bears' young offensive coordinator could land an interview or two, and from there anything would become possible.