OTL: Doyle Excited to Lead Ravens Offense

Following the overhaul of coaching changes, 29-year-old Declan Doyle is set to take over as the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator in 2026. Doyle sat down with the Ravens podcast “The Lounge” to discuss his outlook and expectations for his offense, as he prepares to call plays for the first time in his career.

Biggest Adjustments Going to Playcaller

Doyle will take over playcalling responsibilities with the Ravens after an OC stint with Chicago, where HC Ben Johnson controlled said duties. Doyle was asked what the biggest adjustment would be as he goes from putting game plans together to being the final say on strategies:

“I think the biggest thing is that you’re the last one to stamp anything. My role last year was really to support Ben, support the rest of the staff, and make sure that I was giving ideas. I was trying to prepare the plan, as you know, Ben may have had other things going on as the head coach, but the idea was that you were setting the table to where he could come in and most of the work was already done, and then he could come in and stamp off what he needed to stamp.

“The difference here is just being able to put your own spin on some of those things as we go through that process. This is really a collaborative thing with myself and our staff, so we don’t want it to feel like this is my offense; this isn’t, this is our offense. This is the 2026 Baltimore Ravens. This is what we want it to look like, and I’m certainly excited about you know, being the leader of that group and being able to kind of teach not only our players, but our coaches, exactly what our expectations are for our offense and this season.”

Takeaways from Being Johnson’s Right-Hand Man

There aren’t many offensive minds more intriguing than Bears head coach Ben Johnson. Doyle served as Johnson’s offensive coordinator for the 2025-26 season, getting the opportunity to truly see how Johnson operates. When asked what he took away from his time with Johnson, Doyle told us what we were hoping to hear:

“Yeah, I think the detail and the championship standard that was implemented was exactly what I would emulate. The detail. There was a commitment to it every single day as far as you know, we’re not gonna be vague about what we’re gonna ask our player to do. We’re gonna make sure that they understand what the expectations are and then the championship standard is holding them and ourselves to that every single day. The standard you walk by is the standard you accept, and that becomes the new standard, and so not being afraid to be vocal to make sure that we hold our players and coaches accountable.

“What we do in April, May, and June is going to carry us into November and it’s going to allow us to play at a playoff caliber when it’s playoff time, and not have to change the way we behave. So it’s establishing the standards that we expect, it’s starting to become a player-led team where those guys know the standard, then they can uphold that for each other. I think that’s when you are at your best, is when the players start to embody you know what you’re asking, and they’re showing up every day and doing it.”

What Characteristics Does Doyle Expect From His Offense?

Anytime you have a 2x MVP at quarterback, or a future Hall of Famer at running back, there’s going to be questions surrounding how your offense will run. That’s exactly where Doyle finds himself as he prepares to take over playcalling for a Ravens offense that underperformed last season. When asked how his offense will look, Doyle didn’t hold back on the expectations needed from the trenches and receivers:

“The non-negotiables are, one, we’re physical, and that starts up front, but that also is how we are outside. You know our little guys have to be able to beat up their little guys and go after them, and that’s really how you measure the physicality of an offense. Are your receivers willing to go in there and block and be physical and set up some of those other things where you can create explosive plays on the back end?

“The second thing I talked about was detail, but really, that is on every given play. Giving our players exactly where their eyes need to start, what the expectation is of giving them a toolbox of how to problem solve, because at the end of the day, I’m gonna take zero snaps next year. I’m not gonna walk out on the field one time, they’re the ones who have to solve problems, and so we need to be detailed in our teaching as far as you know what we’re gonna ask them within the concept. The specifics of how the spacing of the field works in the passing game, the specifics of how their jobs relate to each other in the run game, and then the same thing in protection, you know, how we make sure that the quarterback can play from a clean pocket.

“Then the last thing is that we’re gonna hunt explosive plays. We’re hunting…+12 yard gains in the run game, 16+ yard gains in the passing game, and everything we do is gonna be built that way, where we’re trying to create explosive players, where we’re trying to obviously score as many points as we possibly can, and so physical detailing and explosives. This is what we expect to see.”

What Having Lamar Allows Declan to do on Offense

Not many coordinators are lucky enough to go from a talented first overall pick like Caleb Williams to a 3x All-Pro in Lamar Jackson. Getting the most out of Jackson, who is only getting older with just one AFCCG appearance, is key. Here’s what Doyle had to say, when asked what a talent like Jackson could bring to his offense:

“I think he’s certainly talented in a number of ways. You know, when you watch the tape, there’s not really any throws that he can’t make; he’s very arm-talented. I think there are a number of things that you watch that I think that he can get even better. I think there’s even a higher ceiling to his game. You know, you’re looking at a guy who’s been the MVP twice and yet I still think that just like all of our guys, but I think he still has room to grow as well. So you know, he’s a very exciting player, obviously, you see what he can do off-schedule. He can throw off platform, what he can do with his legs is really special, and as a ball carrier. But you know, I think that any player, it takes you know, really being able to work with them hands-on, be able to watch him, figure out what he does best, and then be able to shape and build this offense around what those things are.”

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