The Chicago Bears' offseason officially began the moment that Harrison Mevis of the Los Angeles Rams kicked a game-winning field goal at Soldier Field in overtime to edge the home team in a divisional-round thriller. Just like that, the players and coaches were finished with the 2025 season, capping a mostly successful first season for head coach Ben Johnson.
While the Bears lost, they're carrying plenty of momentum into an offseason in which there will only be excitement about the franchise's chances in 2026. However, some players won't be back and some coaches will move on. One name that could surface in coaching rumors soon is Eric Bieniemy.
Bieniemy is currently the running backs coach for the Bears. In his first and only season with the team, Chicago had the league's third-ranked rushing attack in total yards and ranked third in yards per attempt as well (4.9). D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monogai formed a dynamic tandem for the Bears, and the pair had 14 rushing touchdowns between them.
The end of the Chicago Bears' season will eventually bring Eric Bieniemy's availability into the greater coaching conversation.
Such strong results could make Bieniemy a sleeper candidate to return to a coordinator post somewhere in the NFL. It makes sense, then, to put him squarely in the conversation to potentially replace Matt Nagy as the Chiefs offensive coordinator.
Nagy is a frontrunner for the Tennessee Titans head coaching opening, along with Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Even if Nagy doesn't get the job, his contract in K.C. is up and the writing is on the wall for a replacement on Andy Reid's staff either way. That could pave the way for a fresh face who can bring new ideas to the team or a familiar face who could return after a few years away.
Bieniemy was the Chiefs' offensive coordinator for five seasons from 2018 to 2022 after serving five seasons as running backs coach. Bieniemy actually took over the post from Nagy after he left to become the head coach of the Bears in 2018. Bieniemy then left to take a lateral move with the Washington Commanders on Ron Rivera's staff, and Nagy returned after losing the job in Chicago.
When Bieniemy was offensive coordinator, the Chiefs offense never ranked lower than No. 6 overall in yards or points and led the league multiple times in each category. In 2024, after being fired in Washington, Bieniemy returned to the college ranks to serve as associate head coach and OC for the UCLA Bruins before being hired back by Johnson with the Bears.
The Chiefs have made no discernible movement with regards to their coordinator position, but Nagy's status is still up in the air. They have, however, dispensed of both their running backs coach (Todd Pinkston) and wide receivers coach (Connor Embree) as part of a staff overhaul.
The Bears just lost, so the sting is still fresh, but expect Bieniemy's name to circulate once the dust settles on the NFL's divisional round weekend.