Declan Doyle continued his rapid rise in the coaching profession when he was officially hired as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator this week.
Here are five things to know about Doyle:
His ability matters more than his age.
The 29-year-old Doyle is the NFL's youngest coordinator. But as the saying goes, age is just a number. He has quickly developed a reputation as an impressive offensive innovator.
Doing his job well is what matters to Doyle, not his age. Doyle is the son of former Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle and grew up around football players and coaches.
"The year I was born doesn't really determine how well I can do this job," Doyle said last year via Ari Meirov of the 33rd Team. "I'm more focused on trying to be the best for our team, for our staff. Trying to do everything that I can to put our guys in position to have success.
"This is going to be my 10th season coaching. I don't really feel very young in it. I feel like I've been exposed to some football. I feel really comfortable doing the job and that's the most important thing."
While Doyle is a young coach, he has a great deal of experience working with some of the NFL's best. He was on Sean Payton's staff with both the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos, then served as Ben Johnson's offensive coordinator in 2025 with the Chicago Bears. Doyle also coached alongside Dan Campbell with the Saints.
Former players vouch for Doyle's halftime adjustments.
Doyle will be a first-time play caller with the Ravens, but he has already been an offensive coordinator.
While Johnson called the plays in Chicago, Doyle was heavily involved in the offense, scripting practices and helping Johnson formulate the game plan each week. The Bears were the NFL's third-highest scoring team in the second half, and players said that Doyle's adjustments helped Chicago flourish after halftime.
Bears tight end Cole Kmet called Doyle a "huge loss" for the Bears.
"Even though Declan doesn't call the play for us, the amount of work he did on the offensive side of the football was immense," Kmet said via Chicago's 104.3 The Score.
"Declan was very hands-on with all of us. Declan's the one addressing the offense at halftime, kind of going over the openers that are going to be coming up in the second half. Telling us what we need to do, what they're seeing, and how we can make adjustments."
Improving the Ravens' red zone efficiency will be high on Doyle's to-do list.
In 2024, the Ravens led the NFL in red zone efficiency (73.97%).
In 2025, the Ravens dropped into a tie for 27th in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on just 47.46% of their red zone trips.
Baltimore will expect Doyle's play-calling to help the offense become more prolific in scoring range. The playmakers are in place, led by Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and Zay Flowers. Doyle will look for ways to take advantage of Jackson's ability to move and extend plays, similar to what the Bears did with Caleb Williams.
Doyle may bring more pre-snap motion to Baltimore's attack.
Only five teams used pre-snap motion more frequently than the Bears (60.6%) in 2025, according to Sharp Football Analysis.
Chicago used pre-snap motion effectively to create favorable matchups and cause defensive confusion. The Ravens used pre-snap motion on 52.1% of their plays in 2025, which ranked 17th in the league, but that percentage could increase next season with Doyle on the headset.
The Bears also had a hefty arsenal of trick plays in their bag. That's another trait to look for with Doyle coming aboard. Jackson has never caught a pass in the regular season and has only been targeted twice, both during his rookie season. Under Doyle, a gadget pass featuring Jackson as the recipient could be on the menu.
Doyle was a standout youth baseball player but switched to coaching football at Iowa.
Doyle's coaching apprenticeship began as a college sophomore at Iowa, where he spent three years as a student assistant. He worked with Iowa offensive coordinators Greg Davis (2016) and Brian Ferentz (2017-18), getting a taste of what his future job would be like.
Before he transitioned to coaching football, Doyle was a star high school baseball player and first baseman at Iowa Western. However, Doyle transferred to Iowa with the intention of coaching football and has never looked back.
"I always knew I wanted to coach," Doyle said via Meirov. "I was better at baseball than football. I played college baseball for two years and I hit a stopping point where I was like, 'Okay, I can pursue this further, knowing I probably didn't have what it took to play professionally, or I can make this transition.'
"It just so happened a job opened up as a student assistant at Iowa. That was the path that I chose, to flip a switch and go into football. I really put everything I had into it. There's a love for the beauty of the sport."
