Bears to promote Press Taylor to offensive coordinator to replace Declan Doyle: source
Bears coach Ben Johnson will maintain continuity offensively by promoting passing-game coordinator Press Taylor to offensive coordinator, a source said. That would end a relatively short search after coordinator Declan Doyle left for the Ravens a little over a week ago.
Any change at offensive coordinator is unlikely to be a significant issue for the Bears as they run Johnson’s offense and he is their play caller.
Taylor was the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator from 2022 through ’24 before joining Johnson’s staff last year. He also was a longtime assistant for the Eagles under coaches Chip Kelly and Doug Pederson and won a Super Bowl ring as assistant quarterbacks coach for them in 2017.
Taylor said last season that Johnson set the agenda for coaching quarterback Caleb Williams, and quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett handled the day-to-day details. He and Doyle would “chime in” during group discussions, Taylor said.
Doyle was on the sideline and Taylor was up in the booth last season, and Johnson relied on them to “feed me the story” of what was working offensively, whether players were missing assignments and what the opponent’s defensive coverage tendencies were.
Taylor, 38, got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Tulsa after playing quarterback at Marshall. Kelly hired him as a low-level assistant in 2013, and he rose to quarterbacks coach for Carson Wentz under Pederson by 2018.
When the Eagles cleaned house after the 2020 season, Taylor spent a season with the Colts before Pederson hired him as offensive coordinator for the Jaguars to work with Trevor Lawrence.
The Jaguars were seventh in scoring in Taylor’s first season, but slipped to 14th in 2023 and 25th in ’24 before they fired Pederson and his staff.
Taylor’s older brother, Zac, is head coach of the Bengals.
The Bears needed to move relatively quickly as they progress in draft preparations and head to the NFL Scouting Combine in two weeks.
The Bears don’t necessarily need to fill Taylor’s position, but it gives Johnson a chance to add an assistant. He already brought in new running backs coach Eric Studesville after Eric Bieniemy went back to the Chiefs as offensive coordinator.