29-year-old same age as Lamar Jackson becomes first offensive playcaller after transforming Bears offense from worst to No. 6 in one season
The Baltimore Ravens hired Declan Doyle as their new offensive coordinator on Friday, making the 29-year-old the youngest active playcaller in the NFL. It’s a bold move by new Ravens coach Jesse Minter, who conducted his interview with Doyle in Baltimore on Friday and immediately offered him the job. Doyle has never been an offensive playcaller before. He has only seven years of NFL coaching experience. And yet, Minter looked at the options available and decided that Doyle was the right person to orchestrate Lamar Jackson’s offense going forward.
This is not a safe hire. This is not a proven coordinator coming in to stabilize things. This is a young, innovative mind who’s been rising through the coaching ranks and just helped transform one of the league’s worst offenses into a productive one. Minter is betting on Doyle’s potential, his work ethic, his scheme innovation, and his ability to connect with players particularly with Jackson, who will be his first quarterback as a play caller.
“I’m looking for a connector and an innovator and a scheme builder around the best player in the world,” Minter said when asked Thursday what he wanted in an offensive coordinator.
Doyle fits that description, at least in theory. He’s 29 years old the same age as Jackson. He’s never called plays at the NFL level, but he’s been around some of the best offensive minds in football. He was Denver’s tight ends coach from 2023 to 2024, working under one of the most innovative head coaches in football at Sean Payton. Before that, he was a New Orleans Saints offensive assistant from 2019 to 2022, learning from Dennis Allen and one of the league’s most historic offenses.
Most recently, Doyle was the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator for the 2025 season. Except, technically, he wasn’t calling plays head coach Ben Johnson was. So Doyle’s official title was offensive coordinator, but he wasn’t operating as one in practice. Johnson made the play calls. Doyle developed the scheme, worked with the players, and helped transform an offense that was the worst in the NFL in 2024 into the No. 6 offense in 2025.
That transformation is the narrative that’s carrying Doyle into Baltimore.
When One Season Changes Everything
The Bears’ offensive improvement is remarkable. In 2024, Chicago averaged 18.2 points per game, ranking 28th in the NFL. Last season, that number jumped to 25.9 points per game, good for ninth in the league. That’s a 7.7-point-per-game improvement in one season. That’s the kind of dramatic shift that gets noticed by head coaches looking for offensive coordinators.
Did Doyle do all of that? Probably not entirely. Ben Johnson was the play caller. The Bears also had a new quarterback in Caleb Williams, their No. 1 overall pick. But Doyle was part of that transformation. He was in the room. He was developing the schemes. He was working with the players. And the results were undeniable.
For a Ravens team that needs an offensive spark, that track record is appealing. Doyle helped take an offense from worst to respectable in one season. Can he help take Lamar Jackson and the Ravens’ offense from declining to elite?
The Challenge Awaiting in Baltimore
Jackson’s numbers last season tell a concerning story. He averaged 196.1 passing yards per game and threw 21 touchdown passes both his fewest since 2022. For a quarterback of Jackson’s caliber, those numbers represent a step backward. His MVP-caliber production is missing. His efficiency has declined. His volume has decreased.
Jackson is entering his ninth NFL season, and he’ll be working with his fourth offensive coordinator. That’s a lot of change for one player. But Minter is banking on the fact that previous offensive coordinator changes have resulted in MVP seasons for Jackson. The Ravens’ pattern suggests that new voices and new schemes can elevate Jackson’s play.
Doyle will have to immediately establish credibility with Jackson. He has to convince the quarterback that, despite his youth and lack of playcalling experience, he has the innovative schemes and player connection necessary to elevate the Ravens’ offense back to elite status. He has to prove that his work transforming the Bears wasn’t a one-time success but rather a sign of things to come.
At 29 years old, calling plays for one of the NFL‘s most talented quarterbacks, Doyle is taking on one of the biggest challenges in football. But if his track record with the Bears is any indication, he might be up for it.
