Chicago's offensive architect chooses stability, spurning an Eagles coordinator role to continue building with the Bears' promising offense.
The Chicago Bears are keeping one of their assistants around for now.
One of their assistants has already left for another team. Running backs coach Eric Bieniemy rejoined the Kansas City Chiefs to become their offensive coordinator for the second time.
Bieniemy was previously with the Chiefs as OC from 2018-2022. He then left for the same role with the Washington Commanders in 2023, before heading to UCLA in 2024.
It looked like the Bears would lose defensive backs coach Al Harris to the Green Bay Packers for their defensive coordinator job. The Packers hired former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon instead.
Green Bay lost former DC Jeff Hafley after he went to the Miami Dolphins to become their next HC.
Bears' offensive coordinator Declan Doyle was being considered for the same role with the Philadelphia Eagles after the organization fired Kevin Petullo. However, The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported that Doyle withdrew his name from the running and is returning to Chicago.
Before joining the Bears, Doyle was with the Denver Broncos as their tight ends coach from 2023-24. He also spent time with the New Orleans Saints as an assistant from 2019-2022.
Doyle helped turn the Chicago offense around.
The Bears had the 12th-most passing yards (234.8), third-most rushing yards (144.8) and ninth-most points per game (25.9) in 2025.
Caleb Williams will definitely enjoy having Doyle around again in 2026. Especially since Williams had multiple OCs as a rookie in 2024.
At first, it was Shane Waldron, but he was then fired in November of that season and replaced by passing game coordinator Thomas Brown. Brown then became the interim head coach when Matt Eberflus was fired, making Chris Beatty the interim OC.
The quarterback took some major steps in his development this past season. He passed Erik Kramer's 1995 record for single-season passing yards (3,838). Williams ended the regular season with 3,942 passing yards and was three touchdowns shy of setting a new single-season passing touchdowns record.
Having consistency at OC helped Williams flourish in the first year of Ben Johnson's tenure. The team went to the Divisional Round of the playoffs and clinched its first NFC North title since 2018.
Williams set new career highs in passing yards (3,942) and touchdowns (27).
If the team is able to keep Doyle around, it would be a massive plus. However, with how good a season the Bears just had, it's going to be even harder to have the same assistants around in 2026.