Former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson reached out to former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen late in the 2024 season to inquire if the veteran coach would be willing to work with a first time NFL head coach.
The reason: he was Johnson once. Allen, the Bears ’ new defensive coordinator, was a 39-year-old first-time head coach when the Raiders started their 2012 regular season. Johnson will be 39 when the Bears play their first game with him as their head coach.
Dennis Allen was fired as the Saints head coach on Nov. 3 and will now run the defense for new coach Ben Johnson in Chicago.
The Bears are bringing in former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator. Chicago has also hired Denver Broncos tight ends coach Declan Doyle to serve as the offensive coordinator and is retaining special teams coordinator Richard Hightower.
The Saints will go up against two of their recently-hired coaches on the road in 2025, with Klint Kubiak on the Seattle Seahawks and Dennis Allen on the Chicago Bears:
The Bears are set to hire former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen as the team's new defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports. Allen's strong candidacy was one of the worst-kept secrets in the NFL over the last five days after the Bears hired Ben Johnson as the new head coach,
In his introduction on Thursday, Dennis Allen was asked about what his style of defense would look like. The word “aggressive” came up multiple times as part of what to expect under the new DC.
Ben Johnson made one of the first big moves of his Chicago Bears coaching tenure this week when he hired former Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen to be his defensive coordinator.
The Chicago Bears are hiring former New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen as their next defensive coordinator and former Denver Broncos tight ends coach Declan Doyle as their offensive coordinator, NF
Dennis Allen—who was introduced as Chicago's next defensive coordinator at a press conference on Thursday—revealed that Johnson reached out to him during the season to see if he'd like to join forces at his next destination.
The coordinators hired by Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson enter their new jobs with vastly different amounts of coaching experience.