The Chicago Bears have made another addition to their new coaching staff, hiring Dennis Allen as their defensive coordinator. Allen was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints but was fired midway through the regular season with a 2-7 record. He joins the Bears under new head coach Ben Johnson. Johnson was among the most prized names in the coaching carousel and has been filling out his staff with names from around the league. Dennis Allen is the newest addition and with his defensive coaching experience, will look to make an impact on the Chicago Bears.
Dennis Allen’s Coaching History

Dennis Allen has been a defensive assistant coach around the NFL since the early 2000s. He started with the Atlanta Falcons and coached for teams like the Saints, and Broncos. He was hired by the Oakland Raiders as head coach in 2012. However, the team went 4-12 in his first season and 4-12 again in his second season. He was fired after a 0-4 start in 2014. Allen returned to the Saints in 2015 and was soon promoted to defensive coordinator. During this time, Allen worked under Sean Payton and helmed the New Orleans defense for many years until Payton left the team for his supposed retirement.
Dennis Allen took over as the Saints head coach in 2022. In his first season, the team went 7-10. The team’s defense was solid under Allen, but the roster was made up of aging players and large salaries. When Sean Payton returned to coaching with the Denver Broncos, many believed he was never retiring, he was just getting off of a sinking ship. In 2023, the Saints went 9-8, missing the playoffs. They were plagued by the same roster problems as before, and things did not get much better. In 2024, despite a positive 2-0 start, things quickly fell off the tracks and the team plummeted to 2-7. Dennis Allen was fired, and they finished the season 5-12.
Many view Dennis Allen’s head coaching stint with the Saints as a failure, like his one with the Raiders. But in New Orleans, the roster was never one of the more talented units in the league. They were stuck with huge contracts of the Sean Payton era that the organization refused to move off of. Still, Allen did not find much success with the team, and they spent most of his tenure stuck in the no man’s land of not contending and not rebuilding. The Chicago Bears hope things will be different.
Joining the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are hoping that Allen can be another example of a recent trend in the NFL. The fact is that many of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL are failed head coaches. Steve Spagnuolo was a former head coach but has found the most success in his career as the defensive coordinator in the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty. Brian Flores was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and has had a career resurgence as the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. Robert Saleh was fired by the New York Jets this season and has returned to the San Francisco 49ers as the defensive coordinator.
Many defensive-minded coaches simply make better coordinators, and the Chicago Bears hope to achieve similar success with Allen. They are coming off a 5-12 season but have many positives to look forward to. Caleb Williams will enter his second season with a completely new coaching staff. Allen’s defense could look very different by the time the season starts, depending on the offseason moves the Chicago Bears make in free agency and the draft. But Ben Johnson is trying to build something in Chicago, where Allen can play a significant role in overhauling the defense while Johnson likely calls plays for the offense.