Allen revealed that new Bears coach Ben Johnson had reached out to him late in the 2024 season to see if he would consider being his defensive coordinator should Johnson be offered a head-coaching position.
“When Ben asked me if I would be interested, there were a couple of places that I felt like had the pieces in place to potentially be a really good football team, and Chicago was one of them,” Allen said. “So, I was excited when it came about that this was a job that he really wanted, and I was excited to come along with him.”
Allen is intrigued by pieces at all three levels of the Bears defense.
“There are some things that we have in the secondary that I like,” he said. “There are some pieces at linebacker that I’m encouraged by. There are a couple spots up front where we’ve got some players. So I think the foundation is there defensively.”
Asked specifically about the secondary, Allen lauded the size and length at cornerback as well as the versatility at safety, but he mentioned only one individual by name.
“Kyler Gordon is an outstanding nickel player,” Allen said. “I have a vision for how we can utilize him. I think the foundation for what we want to do is there, and then I’m just excited about finally getting these guys in here and us having the opportunity to work with them and see exactly what we have. And then we have to be creative with how we want to do things.”
While Allen vows to employ an attacking, aggressive defense, it’s too early to say how much the Bears will blitz.
“That all remains to be seen,” Allen said. “We’ll get all the guys in here. We’ll figure out what we need to do. But I think Ben in his press conference made a great point, that this has become a quarterback-driven league. I mean that’s what this league is, so I think everything that we do is going to be based on, ‘How do we affect the quarterback?’ And you affect the quarterback through rush and coverage, and that’s the pinnacle of what team defense is all about.”
Allen is eager to work with Johnson, who was a top head-coaching candidate after three highly successful seasons as Lions offensive coordinator. In their last head-to-head matchup Dec. 3, 2023, in New Orleans, Detroit raced to a 21-0 lead in the first 6:45 of the game en route to a 33-28 victory.
“Just facing the offense, the creativity of the offense, the way that he’s able to utilize all of his assets and get him in the best…
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