One of the more embattled Washington Commanders assistant coaches in recent memory is getting a chance to reboot his career in the NFC North.
ESPN’s Courtney Cronin reported on February 1 that former Commanders offensive coordinator and 2-time Super Bowl champion Eric Bieniemy has been hired as the new running backs coach for the Chicago Bears.
Bieniemy was fired after 1 season with the Commanders in 2023.
“Bieniemy’s most recent NFL job was as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders in 2023,” Cronin wrote. “He previously won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs and spent the 2013 to 2022 seasons in Kansas City where he overlapped with Bears general manager Ryan Poles. Bieniemy also was the running backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings from 2006 to 2010. Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren was on staff in Minnesota at the time as the Vikings executive vice president of legal affairs and chief administrative officer.”
The Bears hired coveted Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their new head coach on January 21.
Rough Road For Bieniemy Since Leaving Chiefs
Bieniemy spent a decade as an assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs and was looked at by some as a head-coach-in-waiting as the team turned into the NFL’s crown jewel franchise in that time.
That never materialized because teams couldn’t get past the fact the genius behind the Chiefs’ offense came from quarterback Patrick Mahomes first, head coach Andy Reid second and Bieniemy a distant, distant third.
Since leaving the Chiefs following the 2022 season, Bieniemy is now on his third team in 3 years.
His time with the Commanders was marked by an abject player revolt almost from the moment he showed up, with former head coach Ron Rivera being forced to awkwardly defend Bieniemy’s brusque coaching style and bizarre rules during training camp.
Commanders guard Sam Cosmi told The Washington Post’s Candace Buckner about a rule Bieniemy tried to enforce on offensive players after he showed up in 2023.
“(Bieniemy) brought with him a new title that gave him power — and some asinine rules that made no sense,” Buckner wrote. “Including a rule about hats and how grown men should wear them.”
Those grown men were not amused.
“Last year, I was not allowed to wear my hat backwards (in the building). So that’s a little fun fact there,” Cosmi told Buckner. “That was something that we as players, offensive side, we weren’t allowed to wear our hat backwards.”
The Commanders went 4-13 and both Rivera and Bieniemy were fired.
In 2024, Washington improved to 12-5 and advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991 under first-year head coach Dan Quinn.
Attempt at College Coaching Doesn’t Go Well
Yahoo Sports college football writer Ross Dellenger reported on December 5 that Bieniemy was fired as UCLA’s offensive coordinator after one season.
“UCLA is making a change at offensive coordinator. Eric Bieniemy is out, sources tell @YahooSports,” Dellenger wrote on his official X account. “Bruins finished 117th in total offense this season.”
UCLA went 5-7 overall in its first season in the Big Ten Conference in 2024, including a 3-6 record in Big Ten play. The Bruins were 15th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten in total offense and 16th in scoring offense (18.4 points).
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