Bear Digest

The Desired Coordinator Traits Ben Johnson Has With Press Taylor

The decision to promote Press Taylor to offensive coordinator allowed the Bears to have some traits they had with their old OC.
Gene Chamberlain|
Ben Johnson wanted someone detailed as his setup man and found him close to home.
Ben Johnson wanted someone detailed as his setup man and found him close to home. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Worrying about Press Taylor's impact on the Bears as their new offensive coordinator is like being concerned about the quality of the meal you'll have in a restaurant based on your waitress or bus boy.

Just a hunch but the chef might be the guy to look at, unless the  waitress dropped all the food or the bus boy forgot to put the silverware and plates out on the table.

Taylor is only a table setter. That's what Declan Doyle did for the offense. He moved things along with the game plan, and even in that duty coach Ben Johnson has final say on the game plan as well as calling the plays.

It's been the beauty of hiring Johnson from the get-go, as any success the offense has doesn't mean losing it all when the offensive coordinator goes on to call plays elsewhere or be a head coach. They have similar stability with Dennis Allen on defense except for another reason. Allen is less likely to leave because someone has hired him as head coach because he' already been a head coach twice.

None of this is intended to downplay the ability of Johnson's assistants or what they do, as someone must carry out those tasks assigned to a non-play caller as offensive coordinator. Johnson doesn't have the time to do everything. 

This isn't like Detroit's situation, where the Lions lost Johnson and then struggled. Johnson actually called the plays there.

The real reason Taylor's promotion from passing game coordinator causes much angst is not based on anything that happened in Chicago but in Jacksonville.  The Jaguars had been expected to compete for the division title or do better in 2023 and the offense struggled when Doug Pederson was head coach.

Surprise, surprise, surprise—Pederson lets it out  that Taylor had been entrusted with calling the plays and actually had done it dating back into the previous season.

It's easy to see why Jaguars fans would be upset.

As long as Johnson isn't giving up play calling secretly to let Taylor do it, the chance for issues seems small. The chance for Johnson to give up play calling to anyone seems smaller.

Johnson didn't leave the Lions as play caller to come to Chicago as coach and let someone else call the plays or dictate the course of the franchise.

Taylor's strengths as assistant

When Pederson was hired and named Taylor as his offensive coordinator, Doug Shipley of Jacksonville Jaguars' On SI relayed his reasoning.

“He's detailed, he's organized, he's the type of guy that as I went through my tenure there in Philadelphia, he's the kind of—you always have the coaches you keep your eye on, and he was always one of those guys for me that I kept my eye on," Pederson said. "I knew that one day I think he was going to be an offensive coordinator. I felt that in my heart that he could be."

Contrast that with what Johnson said about 29-year-old Doyle a short time after his hiring at the 2025 NFL scouting combine.

"It's been awesome getting him into the building the last few weeks, and extremely detailed, extremely organized," Johnson said of then 28-year-old Doyle. "The age does not matter. He is going to be respected by not only the players, but also his fellow coaches as well."

If detailed and organized is what Johnson is looking for, he has something similar to Doyle now in Taylor.

If something beyond setting up the offense to succeed is what he wants from Taylor, then there will be some questions.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.