Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Bears assistants Al Harris, Declan Doyle garner interest around the NFL
22 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: Who are Al Harris and Declan Doyle in the context of the Bears?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody, middays 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 670 The Score.
I see future head coaches on this staff. I see future coordinators. I see these young coaches being future position coaches. I see that all across the board. And so when you have success and you win games, normally that's what happens. I know we already have some slips coming through that other teams would like to interview some of our guys, and I'm all for it, man.
I want these guys to continue to ascend. Anything I can do to help them out, I think they all know I'm more than willing to do that.
That was Ben Johnson talking about his assistants getting jobs.
Chapter 2: What qualities make Al Harris and Declan Doyle potential head coaching candidates?
The most notable and the most concrete is Eric Biennemi, who by all accounts and all reports, I should say multiple NFL reports, that's how you officially say it, is headed to Kansas City to become the Chiefs offensive coordinator again. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 670 The Score. That was Ben Johnson yesterday as part of his season-ending press conference. And he did talk about that.
Ben Johnson has been a teacher of assistant coaches. In fact, Al Harris and Declan Doyle both were calling the plays for the offensive and defensive units in that preseason game in the second half against Buffalo, for example. So that is something that he wants to pass on. He's meant it. And he, of course, enjoyed that same kind of come up after being the offensive coordinator with the Lions.
Chapter 3: How does team success influence coaching staff promotions?
that's how he's here is the bears assistant head coach and this is what or the bears head coach so that's what happens your team gets good and then your assistants go away this is also why it's so important in my mind and i know people will disagree but i don't care because i know i'm right if you can hire an offensive minded head coach do it because if your team's any good you're going to be trying to come up with a new offensive coordinator way too often
Because every time an offensive coordinator is part of a season that gets you deep into the playoffs, let alone win a Super Bowl, that guy's going to get poached for a head coaching job.
And finding the next guy is a lot harder than just hiring a guy who you know is your offensive rock, because it's a lot easier to find defensive coordinators than it is to find offensive coordinators in this league.
Yeah, I mean, well, good offensive coordinators are... really difficult to find two, though. And then they go fast. As far as Eric Biennemi, going back to KC, I say good for him. He obviously made an impact on the Bears' 11-win season this year, a season in which they won a playoff game, so good for him. I guess the good news from my perspective is that
I trust Ben Johnson to find the right predecessor at that job for which he was probably overqualified.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of teams wanting to interview Bears assistants?
Don't we agree on that? Eric Bien-Ami, the running back's coach, probably deserved better.
His track record, yeah. He probably shouldn't have been in this particular spot, but it's the Bears and Ben Johnson's fortune that he was available to control.
He got right again with the Bears, if he even needed to.
He would have been in Kansas City last year, and they might have had a better year last year if he had been the offensive coordinator. But he went a bunch of different places after he was in Kansas City. He went to Washington. He went to UCLA. So that's my point here is you're trying to say, Grody, that he was going to... There was some sort of get-right aspect there.
Chapter 5: How did Ben Johnson's coaching style impact his assistants?
Or perhaps... And this is probably just more likely... is that once he wanted to set out for these jobs, similar to what we're seeing happen with Matt Nagy, where you want to be a head coach, it means that you might be out of an opportunity should you leave and you can't always go back to the existing one. It may have just been opportunity cost that he wanted to go to D.C.
We saw what happened there. D.C. goes through their coordinators. I mean, I don't know that that's head coach specific when you consider what's happening right now. Cliff Kingsbury is now available, as we've seen. So goes to DC wants to, he was in a lot of the coaching cycle interviews as we saw for head coach.
Then he ends up at UCLA and he has to say at UCLA, you know, he had to issue a statement saying that this was a mutual agreement to leave. Like he may have just had a one-year deal there and wanted to work there to stay fresh and do something. Yeah. One of the worst offenses in college football that season when he was the offensive guy. And I say this, I wonder if,
Andy Reid doesn't need ā well, actually, I'm pretty sure Andy Reid needed Eric Bien-Ami more than Eric Bien-Ami needed a job with the Chiefs. He can coach elsewhere, but that is certainly a relationship that has worked in the past and produced championship-level football.
I mean, it is interesting when you take a look at the overall resume, you know, even going back to his time before Kansas City. He was at the University of Colorado in 2011-12 as the OC. Then he was running backs and offensive coordinator in Kansas City until 2022. Assisted head coach, so that was a bigger title in Washington and offensive coordinator in 2023.
Then it was UCLA, and then it was the Bears here. So... There was no doubt that there were a couple of guys who I think you're right. It happens every year in the league where you have somebody who's more qualified than the position dictates. It's just a matter of whether or not he wants to take it. And he didn't back down either. I think he truly loves coaching running backs.
You can tell by his resume.
Yeah, no doubt. I mean, he enjoyed it, and I think the messages that he gave the running backs room and the work that he did with them seemed to be legitimate in terms of how good the running game ended up being this year.
Well, just look at how we talked about the running backs room at the beginning, and Ben Johnson tried to tell us, or not he didn't try, he did tell us, the running backs room is fine. And they continue to get more and more out of DeAndre Swift and Kyle Menungai And I would have never imagined that Cal Menungai would have had the season that he had based on how this season started for the Bears.
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Chapter 6: Why is it important to hire offensive-minded head coaches?
And now Kevin Byard, who led the NFL in picks and is an All-Pro. So there were multiple issues in Dallas, as we know defensively, involving a guy we all know in Matt Eberflus. However, Al Harris is a coach of consequence when it comes to how his team performs.
Absolutely.
And he might go to Green Bay.
Now that's a problem. That's a different topic. But Al Harris, the possibility of him leaving is not exactly leading the show. You know what I mean? That's great information. Al Harris had a huge effect on the Bears this year, and that's what happens. Coaches get promoted, they go to other jobs, and then you have to fill those spots.
So that's a valuable coach, but I just can't get that worked up about losing assistants.
We have a caller on the line from Washington.
Uh-oh.
So he must be listening on the Odyssey app. David, you're on Rahimi Harrison-Grody.
Hold on, guys. I'm on speaker. I'm going to get off of it. Okay. Sounded good on that speaker. You actually, yeah, you sound fine on speaker.
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Chapter 7: What challenges arise when replacing successful assistant coaches?
Just wanted to let you know. Hello?
Yes.
How's that? How you doing? We're great.
Yeah, we're the best.
Great. Hey, I was just calling just to let you know, first of all, lifelong Chicagoan, born and raised, Southwest subs, and got some age on me, so I've seen a lot. But I don't see why you shouldn't block Al Harris from going to Green Bay or anywhere else in the division. I think that's important.
Wait, I didn't hear the first part of what you said.
He thinks the Bears should block Al Harris potentially going to a team in the division.
You can't block a guy from going somewhere if he's getting a promotion elsewhere.
Just to help Dave out, would you guys block Al Harris going to another team in the division if you could?
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