Eric Bieniemy will return to Northwest Stadium in Landover next season.
Bieniemy, who was the offensive coordinator for the Commanders in one of the most forgettable and regrettable seasons in recent franchise history, has been hired by the Chicago Bears as their new running backs coach.
The former NFL running back played for the Chargers, Bengals and Eagles during his nine-year career from 1991-99.
The Kansas City Chiefs, having determined they would not re-sign Bieniemy as their offensive coordinator following the 2022 season, decided to bring back Matt Nagy to lead the offense.
So, then-Commanders head coach Ron Rivera swept in when no one else was making an offer and made Bieniemy his offensive coordinator.
During training camp, some unnamed respected veteran players came to Rivera to talk about Bieniemy. Rivera had already lost control of Bieniemy. Bieniemy didn’t help his case in his weekly press conferences, talking about how he was old school, wouldn’t change, etc.
He then had inexperienced quarterback Sam Howell leading the NFL in dropbacks during the 4-13 2023 season. To make matters worse, Bieniemy was 32nd in the NFL using play-action to help his struggling young quarterback.
https://Twitter.com/john_keim/status/1737923772466819360
NFL analyst Warren Sharp spoke directly regarding Bieniemy’s unproductive season, “They have no disguises to the defense; they don’t do anything to help their young quarterback. The defense is already playing the pass…as much as we know that Sam Howell struggled and is now gone, Eric Bieniemy did absolutely nothing to help Sam Howell, in my opinion.”
Bieniemy spent last season as UCLA’s offensive coordinator, and he was let go after one season, something his agent disputed. Ben Johnson, the Bears’ new head coach, hired him to coach the running backs.
Previously, Bieniemy served as an NFL running backs coach for the Vikings (2006-10) and the Chiefs (2013-17).
