Lamar Jackson has a new offensive coordinator, and he’s the same age as Jackson, give or take a few months. Meanwhile, the Ravens quarterback’s former coordinator now has the quarterback he wanted last year. Todd Monken, now head coach of the Browns, told Shedeur Sanders he wanted to draft him.
Monken, who served as Jackson’s coordinator with the Ravens for the past three seasons, has his first head coaching opportunity in the NFL with the Browns. Jackson played some of the best football for him, but now has Declan Doyle.
Doyle, coming over from the Bears, helped 2024 first-overall pick Caleb Williams blossom in his second season. In Chicago, he had a head coach in Ben Johnson who called the plays, but he will be running the ship for the Ravens’ new defensive-minded head coach, Jesse Minter.
During the 2025 season, even former Ravens HC John Harbaugh openly criticized Todd Monken. With Lamar Jackson and others battling injuries, however, it certainly wasn’t all his fault. Nor was the fact that their rookie kicker missed a field goal that kept them out of the playoffs.
The Ravens decided to clean house this offseason, however, firing Harbaugh after 18 years. Jesse Minter is two decades younger, and now Lamar Jackson has the youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL in Declan Doyle.
Born in 1996, Doyle began coaching as a student assistant at Iowa in 2016. By 2019, he was already in the NFL with the Saints as an offensive assistant, holding that post for four years. In 2023-24, he served as tight ends coach for the Broncos before earning the Bears’ offensive coordinator role under first-team HC Ben Johnson. And now with the Ravens, he will get to call plays for the first time with Jackson as his quarterback.
The Ravens finished 11th in points and 16th in yards last season. Lamar Jackson, who missed four games and played most of the season through injuries, finished with a personal 6-7 record. He went 192-for-307 passing for 2,549 yards with 21 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. Jackson also rushed for 349 yards with 2 touchdowns, fumbling 7 times.
Under Declan Doyle and Ben Johnson, Caleb Williams took a step forward last season. He went 330-for-568 passing for 3,942 yards, just missing out on the Bear’s first 4,000-yard season. With 27 touchdowns to 8 interceptions and 3 rushing touchdowns, he also learned to play in the big moments. He had an NFL-high 6 fourth-quarter comebacks and led them to a playoff victory.
Doyle takes over a much more established roster complete with Lamar Jackson as its centerpiece. The Ravens have pieces around them like WR Zay Flowers, TEs Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, and RBs Derrick Henry and Keaton Mitchell. Meanwhile, Jesse Minter’s task is to get the defense back on track. But can the 29-year-old Doyle handle running the ship on his own?
And how will Todd Monken enjoy working with Shedeur Sanders now that he actually has to?