Bears OC Declan Doyle on his time with the Saints

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 2 hours ago

CHICAGO - When the Chicago Bears face the New Orleans Saints this Sunday (Noon / FOX), it will be an interesting game for both Chicago’s defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, and Chicago’s offensive coordinator, Declan Doyle.

Allen spent 15 seasons with the Saints, serving in two different stints, including a stint as their head coach for multiple seasons. Doyle also spent multiple years with New Orleans. From 2019 to 2022, he served as an offensive assistant after being hired by head coach Sean Payton. In Doyle’s final season with the Saints, Allen served as his head coach.

Especially since the Saints were the first NFL team to employ Doyle, he will always appreciate them and the people within the organization.

“I obviously have a special spot in my heart for New Orleans. That was obviously where I got started,” Doyle said. “Sean hired me when I was 22 and I moved down there and I kind of grew up in the NFL in that way in my career. My now wife moved down there with me, and we spent four years there. That organization is top-class.”

Penalties have been a topic of discussion on both sides of the ball this season, but primarily on the offense. Pre-snap penalties have been a recurring issue and Monday’s game against the Washington Commanders was no exception. However, one of those penalties, the illegal formation against left tackle Theo Benedet, was quite questionable.

Nonetheless, penalties have been a problem and it is something Doyle said the Bears are actively working to address.

“Every penalty’s different. We had three in the game that we just played. You can look at it and say whatever you want whether you agree or not. It really doesn’t matter,” Doyle said. “When they throw the flag, it’s a penalty and the biggest thing is figuring out how we teach those things moving forward to avoid those and so, every situation is different whether that’s talking about a pass interference or we’re lined up offsides or something like that. But, it really is specific to the individual play, whatever that infraction was. But, we’re still working to clean that up pre-snap.”

Chicago has invested a lot into this offense. They hired an offensive-minded coach in Ben Johnson and used their first-round selection on tight end Colston Loveland. Loveland has not gotten too much action. In fact, he has only played 42 percent of the offensive snaps through the first five games.

However, Doyle said Loveland has continued to be locked into this offense, and it has been paying off.

“He’s been locked in every week. He’s a guy that loves football, studies really hard. He’s ready to go,” Doyle said. “Sometimes the ball doesn’t find you and it’s probably not all that different than how we’ve talked about (running back D’Andre) Swift - just staying with it and then eventually, you get that breakthrough. That’s really the same as Loveland. I’ve seen him continue to progress, to grow as a pro and he’s going to continue to do that and when his number is called, he’s going to be ready.”

That has already started to show as Loveland had a six-yard catch on a crucial third-and-five to keep Chicago’s drive alive during their game-winning drive. He should continue to get more action as this season goes on.