Lamar Jackson is already praising his new play-caller’s "mind-blowing" creativity as the former Chicago assistant brings a fresh, explosive offensive system to Baltimore’s championship-caliber roster.
The Chicago Bears haven't had Ben Johnson as their head coach very long, but his former assistants are already being spread out throughout the league.
The Bears had offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and running backs coach Eric Bieniemy leave in the offseason. Bieniemy joined the Kansas City Chiefs for another try as their OC.
Bieniemy played his part in turning D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai into a dynamic duo in the Chicago backfield. The Bears averaged the third-most rushing yards per game last season (144.5).
Doyle gave Bears fans some false hope, as he initially interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles for the same position and turned them down. This made it seem like he was going to stick around in Chicago.
He then decided to join Jesse Minter's staff at the Baltimore Ravens. Doyle gets another OC gig with an NFL team and will have the luxury of calling plays there, which isn't something he was able to do at the Bears.
The Ravens haven't even played a game yet in 2026, and Doyle is already making a good impression with his fellow assistants and players.
Lamar Jackson was particularly complimentary of Doyle. He mentioned how happy he was to work with Doyle and spoke about the creativity of his new OC, per Baltimore Beatdown's Dustin Cox.
“It’s a different system than what I’m accustomed to being in, and I feel like there’s going to be a lot of explosiveness this year,” Jackson said. “The way [offensive coordinator] Declan [Doyle] calls plays and his creativity with his mind — how detailed he is — it’s mind-blowing. I’m excited.”
While Doyle didn't call plays for the Bears, he still played a part in turning around the offense. The Bears went from one of the worst offenses in the league under Matt Eberflus to finishing in the top 15 for passing yards, rushing yards, and points per game.
The Bears made an internal hire, promoting former passing-game coordinator Press Taylor to OC. The plan is still for Johnson to be calling the plays on offense.
It may not be long before we start seeing Johnson's assistants take roles with other teams, given how successful his offense was in year one.
Other teams may soon be competing to land assistants from his coaching staff.
Doyle will be missed, but with Johnson calling the plays, this team shouldn't miss a beat on offense.
