Declan Doyle’s Wikipedia page was pretty much non-existent by the time reports surfaced that the 28-year-old was set to become the new offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears.
The native of Iowa City, Iowa, had a quick rise from student assistant at Iowa (started in 2016) to becoming Caleb Williams’ fourth offensive coordinator in two seasons.
There isn’t much info on Doyle online, but the NFL Network would like football news consumers to think he’s an offensive wizard.
We’ll take a look at how teams and players have done with Doyle on staff.
Declan Doyle has connections to new DC Dennis Allen
In 2019, Doyle left Iowa to accept an offensive assistant position with the New Orleans Saints under head coach Sean Payton. He’d stay with the Saints through 2022.
In 2019, the Saints scored the league’s third-most points (458) and gained the ninth-most yards (5,982). New Orleans finished 2020 scoring the fifth-most points (482) in the league and gained the 12th-most yards (6,023).
In Payton’s final year with the Saints and following quarterback Drew Brees’ retirement in 2020, the offense dropped a little performance-wise in 2021. New Orleans scored the 19th-most points (364) and gained the 28th-most yards 5,177.
During Bears’ new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s first season as head coach of the Saints in 2022, the team scored the league’s 22nd-most points (330) and gained the 19th-most yards (5,674).
Doyle left New Orleans in 2023 to serve under Payton once again, this time as the tight ends coach of the Denver Broncos. This was Doyle’s first opportunity to be a position coach in the league.
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The Broncos’ tight ends have not been featured prominently as receivers since Doyle has worked with them. Adam Trautman was the team’s leading receiver at tight end. He finished with 13 receptions for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Lucas Krull added 152 yards and Nate Adkins recorded 152 yards and three touchdowns in 2024. Greg Dulcich finished with 28 yards on five catches.
Trautman led the Broncos tight ends in 2023 as well, recording 22 receptions for 204 yards and three touchdowns. He was the only tight end to gain 100+ yards on the team that season. Krull, Dulcich, Adkins and Chris Manhertz combined for 17 receptions for 158 yards and one touchdown.
Tight ends do more than catch passes in the NFL. They can be key run blockers and can help chip edge rushers.
Per Pro Football Focus, Adkins was the Broncos’ highest-graded (63.9) tight end on offense for overall play in 2024. He earned the team’s 18th-highest grade on the offense. Trautman finished 32nd, Krull was 35th, and Dulcich was graded 37th out of 37 players on Denver’s offense.
In 2023, Dulcich was the Broncos’ 10th-highest (66.9) graded offensive player. Manhertz finished 27th, Adkins 31st, and Trautman was graded 32nd out of 34 offensive players.
Trautman had two lowest-graded years of his five-year NFL career under Doyle in Denver. Manhertz had his highest-graded season in 2024 when he left to play for the New York Giants.
Denver didn’t have a tight end graded in the top 50 for receiving in 2024. Only Dulcich (35th) was graded in the top 50 for overall play in 2023. Adkins was the Broncos’ highest-graded tight end in 2024 (63.9), which was good enough to be the 36th-best tight end in the NFL in 2024.
It’s fair to say the tight end position wasn’t flashy under Doyle. There might be a reason Doyle is considered to be one of the top rising minds in the league, but one wouldn’t notice it in his body of work as a position coach.
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