When the Bears began looking for a new offensive coordinator after Declan Doyle was hired by the Ravens in February, Press Taylor, who had served as pass game coordinator in 2025 after three seasons as Jacksonville's OC, had an initial conversation with head coach Ben Johnson about the role.

Taylor knew Johnson was going to take some time to assess exactly what he was looking for and to interview candidates outside of Halas Hall. After Johnson ultimately offered Taylor the job. Taylor, of course, was both excited and grateful about the new opportunity, but immediately assumed a mindset where he would "still have to earn it every single day."

"Our staff was pretty close, worked really well together, and I think it was something that you didn't really want to disrupt it," Taylor said. "Over the course of working together for one season, you kind of treat every day as a job interview, and really, you're just trying to put your best foot forward.

"It wasn't something I came here ever thinking I was going to become the offensive coordinator. It was just, 'I'm going to come here and do everything I can to help the Bears win.'"

Taylor didn't anticipate Doyle's departure, nor did he ever expect to become the new offensive coordinator in Chicago. But his integral role in last season's offensive success did not go unnoticed to Johnson, who declared that Taylor "checked all the boxes" for the traits he was looking for in his new OC.

"He's extremely smart," Johnson said at the NFL owners meetings in March. "He's the most organized coach I've ever been around at this level. He's got libraries of plays. He knows when we're going against this defensive coordinator, we can go to this little section that he's already got labeled for that guy and that particular scheme and the things that have given them issues in the past. And that gives us a good starting point each and every week of where we can start with a game plan. So I feel really good about the transition.

"He was natural in front of the room, the opportunities that he got last year. He's been a coordinator before, [so] that helps. That experience really helps. And he's got the respect of the coaching staff as well. So whenever I'm not in the room, he knows exactly how to drive the ship so that we're still being productive."

In addition to Taylor's intangibles as a leader and innovator, Johnson also noted the benefit to Taylor already knowing the Bears' offensive scheme inside and out, understanding how Johnson's mind works as a play caller and him having worked with the Bears' core group of young weapons on offense.

That continuity, along with the opportunity to keep working alongside Johnson and the talented staff he assembled after being hired last January, excited Taylor most once he accepted the promotion. While Taylor knew Johnson from afar for years — his brother, current Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, worked with Johnson in Miami — the opportunity to learn from Johnson firsthand has proved even more valuable than Taylor could have imagined.

"When he became an offensive coordinator, he kind of became the guy that everybody across the league was watching," Taylor said. "He was willing to be creative, was willing to be aggressive, but his team played really hard with great fundamentals, with great techniques.

"So it's something as a coach you really appreciate. And then just being able to work with him for one year and see the way he goes about building a gameplan and installing an offense, calling a game, just all these little things that until you're really behind the scenes, you really don't know kind of what the secret sauce is, but it's really him. It's the mentality, it's the urgency, it's the aggressiveness. That's just who he is as a person.

"When you see that every single day, you really, really appreciate it. And to see just how smart he is, combined with the competitive edge, it makes sense. It makes sense why this guy has had so much success and why he is so good at what he does, just because of the way he attacks it every single day."

One of Johnson's coaching philosophies that Taylor greatly benefitted from last season was having every member of the offensive staff speak in front of the players on a specific part of the gameplan or scouting report each week. Those specific opportunities allowed the assistants to provide coaching points to the entire offense rather than just their specific position group.

Now as Taylor transitions into a more prominent role, one that includes leading offensive staff and player meetings, his rapport with the group has already been established.

"Press was great for us last season," tight end Cole Kmet said. "I mean, him and Declan were always side by side, so I feel like having Press step into that role will be super seamless for us. He's obviously a young and bright guy, and a guy that all the players really just responded well to. He's very detailed.He brings a lot of energy as a young guy, understands what the foundations of the offense are, and I think he implements that very well into his coaching."

One of Taylor's most important responsibilities as offensive coordinator will be the continued development of quarterback Caleb Williams. Last season, Taylor played a key role in Williams setting a single-season franchise record with 3,942 passing yards. Williams and the Bears offense also posted the fewest giveaways in the NFL (11) and scored the second-most points off takeaways (104). As Williams looks to take another leap in his third NFL season, Taylor knows the Bears' staff needs to "continue to push the envelope and be creative." That challenge excites Taylor, especially knowing the type of quarterback the team has in Williams.

"Being around a young player that's willing to work is what's so fun," Taylor shared. "Obviously, Caleb is super talented and supremely competitive, which is a really cool mix with our head coach and him, just seeing how competitive these two guys are and how much belief they have in each other, but also themselves. You never feel like you're out of the fight, which is a great thing in this league."

As the Bears approach rookie minicamp this weekend and the start of OTAs at the end of May, Taylor is eager to have players back on the field fine tuning the offense, implementing new ideas and making strides toward winning the Super Bowl.

"As we go through the self scout process and you see some of the things that we did,from down-to-down or certain situations throughout the season, there's just so much room for growth," Taylor said. "It could be so much better. That's something we're gonna work to achieve every single day, but it's going to take a lot of work.

"We understand that what we did in 2025 was special and the work it took to accomplish some of the things we accomplished, but at the end of the day, we fell short of what our ultimate goal was.

"So, 2026 is going to take more. It's going to take more to achieve the things we achieved last year, and obviously reach our ultimate goal as well."