Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears played a preseason game last night, knocking off the Buffalo Bills 38-0, and head coach Ben Johnson used it as a teachable moment for a couple of his assistant coaches. In the second half, Johnson turned the offensive play-calling over to offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, and they gave Al Harris, their defensive backs coach/defensive pass game coordinator, the play sheet to call the defense.
Doyle is the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL at 28 years old, but if Johnson’s offense is as good as we all expect it to be, and the team has the kind of success we all hope for, Doyle may only be in Chicago for a short time. Since he’s a coordinator who doesn’t call plays, at some point, another NFL team could offer him a play-calling coordinator gig, so kudos to Johnson for preparing his young coach.
Harris has been a position coach since 2012, and this season was his first with the added responsibility of defensive pass game coordinator. The next progression up the coaching ladder for the 50-year-old could be to land a defensive coordinator job, and calling plays in the preseason is beneficial for his future.
With Dennis Allen having two unsuccessful stints as a head coach in the NFL, he’s seemingly locked into Chicago’s defensive coordinator role for a while, but that doesn’t mean he can’t coach up Harris for his next opportunity.
So that was Doyle still getting the play calls in with so much time left on the play clock in the second half, and Harris dialing up safety blitzes.
It’s only been a few months, but after so many years of dysfunction surrounding Chicago’s coaching staff, it’s refreshing to see things done in a professional manner.
