Ben Johnson is ready to be the next head coach of the Chicago Bears, and he’s already putting his team together with some familiar faces in mind.
Johnson is looking to hire former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator and former Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi as special teams coordinator, according to a report from ESPN. Johnson has some familiarity with Rizzi, as he was on the same staff at Miami when Rizzi was the special teams coach and Johnson was the assistant quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. Both were coaches when Lions head coach Dan Campbell was interim head coach at Miami.
Johnson and Allen were never on the same staff, but the Campbell connection is there. Both coaches coached Campbell during their careers – Johnson with Campbell in Miami and Detroit and Allen with Campbell in New Orleans under Sean Payton.
Allen has an experienced pedigree as a defensive coordinator, having a top-10 defense in yards allowed per game twice with the Saints as defensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021. New Orleans also ranked among the top five in points allowed per game in both cases. those years. He was the Saints’ defensive signal caller from 2015-2021 before taking on head coaching responsibilities, going 18-25 in three seasons with the Saints without a playoff appearance.
Rizzi was the interim head coach when Allen was fired in November, going 3-5 to finish the season in New Orleans. He served as special teams coordinator and assistant head coach for the Dolphins and Saints.