CHICAGO — Ben Johnson took a major step toward completing his coaching staff Sunday night.

The new Chicago Bears head coach, who was introduced at Halas Hall on Wednesday, didn’t take long to fill all three coordinator roles. The team is hiring Declan Doyle as offensive coordinator, Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator and Richard Hightower will be retained as special teams coordinator, sources told the Chicago Tribune.

Doyle, 28, is believed to be the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL. He will not call plays but is expected to manage a pivotal role as the team works to build an offense around quarterback Caleb Williams.

The Bears believe Doyle is a bright young mind and ascending coach and put stock in his development under Sean Payton. Doyle was the tight ends coach for the Denver Broncos the past two seasons. Before that, he worked for four seasons as an offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints, where he worked with Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, a major influence on Johnson. Doyle was an offensive student assistant at Iowa and played baseball at Iowa Western Community College.

Also considered for the offensive coordinator role were former Stanford coach David Shaw, a senior personnel executive for the Broncos, Tennessee Titans quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree and Arizona Cardinals quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork.

Allen, 52, was considered the front-runner for the job since Johnson was hired. Allen has been the head coach of the Saints and the Oakland Raiders, so he can provide Johnson with some insight into his new role. Allen also served as the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos in 2011 and was the Saints defensive coordinator from 2015-21 before being elevated to head coach in New Orleans.

The Bears hired Allen after interviewing Daronte Jones, the defensive passing game coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, and Aubrey Pleasant, the passing game coordinator/assistant head coach of the Los Angeles Rams.

While there’s going to be a lot of focus on Johnson’s offensive plans, the defense needs to be retooled somewhat. The Bears had the NFL’s second-ranked red zone defense last season and ranked 13th in points allowed and 13th on third down. But the unit dropped off in a lot of categories from 2023. The team was 27th in total defense, 28th versus the run, 16th in passing defense and 31st in yards per pass attempt. The Bears finished 11th in sacks per pass attempt (7.95%) but defensive end Montez Sweat had only 5 1/2 in leading the team.

Johnson cited the loss of nose tackle Andrew Billings to a torn pectoral muscle at the midway point of the season as a key loss. But the run defense had issues before Billings went out and the team didn’t get consistent edge pressure opposite Sweat.

Allen has traditionally run a 4-3 scheme so it’s likely the Bears will continue with that as their base front. The Bears need more talent with Sweat to pressure off the edge and more depth on the interior of the line.

The Saints had one of the best defenses in the league from 2018 through 2021 under Allen, ranking in the top five against the run all four years. New Orleans was top five in scoring defense in 2020 and 2021 and the team won the NFC South in four consecutive seasons with Allen overseeing the defense.

His schemes lean heavily on having interchangeable safeties to key late movement and disguise in the secondary. Johnson cited cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon and linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards as strong pieces for the Bears in his introductory news conference. It will be interesting to see what personnel moves are ahead to fortify a unit that tied for 10th in the league with 24 takeaways but slumped in too many key metrics.

The Bears were considering veteran special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi but Hightower was in the mix all along. The team improved steadily on special teams during the second half of this past season and wound up finishing fifth in the league in defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA). Hightower can provide insight on players under contract to new coaches.

The Bears already hired Al Harris to oversee the secondary and serve as the defensive pass game coordinator. He was credited with developing a slew of young players in Dallas. It would not be surprising if the Bears hired a position coach or two who have worked previously with Allen. It’s worth noting defensive line coach Travis Smith, who has been with the Bears for three years, worked for Allen when he was the head coach in Oakland, Calif.

The team also hired Antwaan Randle El as receivers coach and J.T. Barrett as quarterbacks coach. Both come from the Lions, like Johnson.

It’s believed the Bears are considering Dan Roushar as the offensive line coach. Roushar is currently working at Tulane and had a 10-year stint as an assistant for the Saints when New Orleans had one of the best offensive lines in the league.

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