Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has been coaching in the NFL since 2002. Allen has been a part of his fair share of good and bad staffs throughout his career.
During his time with the New Orleans Saints, Allen overlapped with Sean Payton for 12 years. Payton’s offenses were consistently among the league’s most efficient with quarterback Drew Brees, who was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Allen is now in his second season with the Chicago Bears as the team's defensive coordinator. This is also Year 2 of working with head coach Ben Johnson.
Dennis Allen noticed something in Bears head coach Ben Johnson
Although Allen hasn't been around Johnson nearly as long as Payton has, the veteran defensive play-caller sees the similarities between the two coaches.
“I mean, I think I see a lot of the same qualities in terms of how the attacking mindset and not just how we practice offensively, but how we practice in general,” Johnson said. “The physicality and the effort level that's required is very similar to what we did in those years under Sean in New Orleans. So, you know, there's a lot of similarities as to how they coach and philosophically how they see the game.”
Payton's praise for the second-year head coach indicates that the Bears are in good hands with Johnson as the team’s leader and offensive play-caller.
In a recent interview Sam Roush did with CHGO, the rookie tight end shared a story about Johnson sleeping overnight at Halas Hall during the summer, highlighting the coach’s determination to maximize every second of the day (or night) to improve his team.
People who have worked with or been around Payton often talk about his intensity and detail-oriented mindset. That's similar to what Johnson has displayed not only as a head coach but also during his early coaching days in Detroit.
Johnson has ways to go before he can truly enter the same realm as Payton, who has a Super Bowl ring and is a Hall of Fame quarterback. The Bears’ second-year head coach must prove he can lead his team to another successful season to build off the NFC North title he claimed in Year 1.
Read more: Bears' first unofficial depth chart finally clears up biggest camp questions
Johnson has shown he has the right mindset to push his coaches and players. That’s the start of what it takes to become a successful coach in the league – a standard Allen experienced firsthand under Payton, and a trajectory Johnson could follow as his head coaching career continues.
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