By Kevin Fishbain, Ben Standig and Alex Andrejev
Eric Bieniemy, a longtime NFL assistant coach who most recently served as UCLA’s offensive coordinator, appears set to return to the pro level. The Chicago Bears are expected to hire Bieneimy as their running backs coach, a league source confirmed Saturday.
CBS Sports first reported the news.
UCLA fired Bieniemy in December after he spent one season in the role. Before his time with the Bruins, the 55-year-old spent most of the last decade as an NFL assistant, including coaching for the Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders. He won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs as OC from 2018 to 2020, and was the team’s running backs coach before then.
The Commanders hired Bieniemy after the 2022 season to be their offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, working with Ron Rivera, but the staff wasn’t retained after Washington finished with a 4-13 record that season.
As others have reported, former Commanders OC Eric Bieniemy is expected to become the Bears RB coach, source confirms.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) February 1, 2025
Why Bears are making this move
This hire makes a ton of sense for Ben Johnson’s staff. He has a young coordinator in Declan Doyle and another young QB coach in JT Barrett. In Bienemy, Johnson adds someone with 16 years of experience as an NFL assistant.
Bienemy overlapped with Bears GM Ryan Poles while with the Chiefs and with Chicago president/CEO Kevin Warren during his time coaching in Minnesota, so there’s some familiarity in the front office.
Johnson’s offense in Detroit operated at such a high level in part because of a dynamic backfield. The Bears need to get back to a strong rushing attack — they fell off last season, despite the high-priced addition of D’Andre Swift. Now that room will have an experienced position coach, and Johnson will have someone to lean on who has seen a lot of football. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears senior writer
Required reading
(Photo: Ric Tapia / Getty Images)
