Bears make stunning hire with Eric Bieniemy as backs coach

As the hottest potential head coach candidate for several years, Eric Bieniemy was always denied and wound up in college but now he's reportedly back in the NFL as Bears running backs coach.

Eric Bieniemy has agreed to coach Bears running backs after he once was a hot head coaching prospect. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

One of the hottest offensive coordinators for several years in the NFL is making a return to the league with the Bears as a position coach for Ben Johnson.

Former Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has just increased the team's experience factor on the offensive coaching staff by signing to coach running backs, according to CBS Sports and Jonathan Jones.

Bieniemy was on staff with the Chiefs when Matt Nagy was the offensive coordinator in 2017 as Patrick Mahomes learned what he needed to do to take over the attack, then was the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs when Mahomes was QB from 2018-22.

Every year for three years Bieniemy's name was atop head coaching rumors but he was never hired despite interviewing and then went to Washington under Ron Rivera in 2023.

The Eric Bieniemy situation is without precedent and should be mortifying for the league. I discuss the full context for it here. pic.twitter.com/I6bjllIx58

— nick wright (@getnickwright) February 20, 2023

The staff got fired and Bieniemy didn't get another NFL job. He went to UCLA last season as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

Bieniemy ran for 1,589 yards in nine NFL seasons for the Chargers, Bengals and Eagles. At Colorado, he had 3,940 yards rushing and was their all-time leading rusher. His running backs coaching experience includes five seasons with the Minnesota Vikings working during the height of Adrian Peterson's career.

EB is the only person who kept Mahomes in check and held him accountable when he did something dumb.

Nagy is a pushover who lets Mahomes do whatever he wants.

Bring Eric Bieniemy home!pic.twitter.com/qQ3cZo9RLk

— JC_XCV (@JC_XCV) December 17, 2024

Now he'll coach the Bears' backs and it means they'll have more experience on what had looked like an inexperienced group with 28-year-old offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and 37-year-old Press Taylor.

As offensive coordinator at UCLA, Bieniemy's offense didn't rank high in 2024. They were 117th overall, 130th in rushing and 126th in scoring.

Smart move by Johnson. Bieniemy has plenty of experience and should do well as in the RBs coach role. https://t.co/tn25NSJwwC

— Jacob Camenker (@JacobCamenker) February 1, 2025

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