UCLA Football: Ethan Garbers Raves About New OC

UCLA football quarterback Ethan Garbers raves about offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA football brought in one of the most experienced offensive minds when they hired Eric Bieniemy as their next offensive coordinator this offseason.

Bieniemy returns to coaching college football for the first time since 2012, when he was an offensive coordinator for Colorado. Bieniemy has notably since worked as a running backs coach and offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, where he led the Chiefs' offense during Patrick Mahomes' first five NFL seasons as a starter.

The Bruins could not be more excited to be coached by Bieniemy, who is bringing a pro-style scheme to UCLA this season.

"We were all so excited, to have an opportunity with someone like that coming in and being our offensive coordinator," Quarterback Ethan Garbers told Ashley Adamson of Big Ten Network. "As a football player, you couldn't be more excited for an opportunity like this. Same guy who coached Patrick Mahomes is going to be coaching us. It's pretty special."

With Bieniemy as his offensive coordinator, Mahomes recorded two 5,000 yard passing seasons, one season with 50 passing touchdowns and won two NFL MVP awards as the Kansas City Chiefs won two Super Bowls. The Chiefs led the NFL in total yards three times, and scoring offense twice.

Bieniemy will now work with Garbers, who appeared in eight games for the Bruins in 2023, completing 67.1% of his passes for 1,136 yards, 11 touchdowns, and three interceptions. Garbers heads into the 2024 season as the starter, after splitting reps with Dante Moore a season ago.

Garbers called learning the offense "difficult," but has since adapted and feels the scheme makes sense. Wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant credited Bieniemy for making the offense easy to learn for the receivers.

"Learning this offense, he made it very easy on the field," Sturdivant told Adamson. "He is very vocal about what he wants, and it makes it a lot better to learn the offense in person, and not just look at it on film ... I'm really excited for what this offense is going to look like."

The Bruins offense under Bieniemy will face Hawaii in their first game with their new coordinator, before getting ready to face LSU and a slew of Big Ten defenses the rest of the season.

More UCLA: DeShaun Foster Explains Decision Behind OC Recruitment