Bears’ Cole Kmet confirms how integral Declan Doyle was to the offensive success and the key piece Ben Johnson will need to replace
The search for the team’s new offensive coordinator is underway this week.
The Chicago Bears suffered a tough, but expected, loss last week when offensive coordinator Declan Doyle took a lateral position with the Baltimore Ravens to become the new offensive play-caller for quarterback Lamar Jackson under new head coach Jesse Minter.
You can’t fault Doyle at all for that decision, it was a no-brainer for his coaching career and the next level up being able to call his own offense. Now, the search is underway for the Bears new offensive coordinator under head coach Ben Johnson.
With Johnson serving as the offensive play-caller in Chicago, it’ll be a deliberate search similar to how the process went last offseason before landing on Doyle. But, fans might not fully be aware of the kind of role Doyle really had in Chicago and what qualities the team is searching for to replace him.
Cole Kmet shares insight into the role Declan Doyle played for the Bears offense
“I know even though Declan didn’t call the plays for us, the amount of work he did on the offensive side of the football was immense,” veteran tight end Cole Kmet said, via 104.3 The Score. “You could see that in day-to-day and practices and I’m sure it took a lot off of Ben throughout the week for his duties as a head coach.”
It’s no secret how Johnson felt about Doyle and the impact he had on the entire team this past season. Ideally, Johnson would have loved to retain Doyle for the 2026 season but he wasn’t going to hold his assistant back from an ideal opportunity.
Kmet added that Doyle was the one getting the scout looks dialed in throughout practice, breaking down the practice film, and then leading the unit during the final walkthrough on Saturdays. Doyle’s role went beyond the day-to-day and the practices as well. He still played a vital role on gameday even if he wasn’t the one actually calling plays.
“Declan was very hands-on with all of us,” Kmet added. “That is a big role. These guys do a lot of stuff in terms of prepping the gameplan and getting us ready to go for practice throughout the week. That really shows up big time on Sunday. And then, another thing Declan was great at is… Declan is the one directing the offense at halftime, going over the openers at are coming up in the second-half and telling us what we need to do, what they’re seeing, and how we can make adjustments.”
To a non-casual fan, that should all make sense. Even if he’s not calling plays, the offensive coordinator is still a vital position on the staff in directing that unit and getting them prepared not only in practice, but on gameday as well.
Doyle was up for the challenge and his success is a big reason why he’s on to bigger and better opportunities in Baltimore. Johnson needs to find another young, and hungry, candidate to take over that role and has plenty of qualified options, both internal and external.
Chicago Bears News
Ben Johnson is uniquely equipped with internal and external offensive coordinator candidates to replace Declan Doyle
The Chicago Bears now need to be looking for a new offensive coordinator.
