What a difference a year makes. Or at least that's what Eric Bieniemy might be hoping.
Bieniemy has plenty of football ahead of him as a member of Ben Johnson's coaching staff on the sidelines for the Chicago Bears. The Bears sit atop the NFC North in '25, one year after mopping up the basement in divisional standings. In Johnson's first season at the helm, Chicago has been jostling for the top overall seed in the league's best conference, a stunning turnaround for a franchise that's not won double-digit games since 2018 (and only six such seasons overall since 1991).
The Bears offense has led the way in 2025, which was the hoped-for result after Johnson's hire away from Detroit. Chicago is fourth in total yards and tenth in scoring in Caleb Williams' second season under center. But a major factor for the Bears' offensive success has come on the ground, where Bieniemy's troops have done major damage in his first season as running backs coach in the Windy City.
The Bears rank No. 2 overall in rushing attempts and third in yards per attempt, meaning they not only center their attack on the ground but they're also very effective in doing so. Veteran back D'Andre Swift leads the team with 993 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns on 204 carries through Week 15, but seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai has provided a strong running mate with 731 yards and 5 scores on 155 carries. It also doesn't hurt that Williams runs well for a quarterback, with 369 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.
Bieniemy's role is a bit of a head-scratcher in the first place, an odd career turn for a former offensive coordinator who endured quite a steep fall from "future head coaching favorite" to "oft-overlooked candidate" over the course of multiple offseasons. Bieniemy, when serving as Andy Reid's offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs, interviewed with approximately half of all NFL teams yet was passed over every time. Some teams did it twice.
Eric Bieniemy's latest post might have provided him a portal back into more ambitious territory, if that's a step he's ready to take.
After years of striking out as Reid's disciple, he accepted a lateral move to join the Washington Commanders in Ron Rivera's final season as head coach. The hope was that maybe getting out from under Reid's shadow could allow him to show what he can do in a new environment. A 4-13 season with poor offensive metrics with Sam Howell as the starting quarterback sent Bieniemy's stock plummeting further.
In 2024, Bieniemy returned to the college ranks to join the UCLA Bruins once again, twenty years after serving as their running backs coach in his initial ascent as a young leader. Bieniemy was hired as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for DeShaun Foster. However, a 5-7 season got Bieniemy canned, and Foster was out three games into the '25 campaign.
That's when Johnson came calling, and Bieniemy accepted a role on the Bears' staff. One year later, Bieniemy looks like a man with good ideas once again, bringing the elements around him into question over the last two years. Is Bieniemy to blame for the ills at UCLA when his own head coach was fired just a few games later? How much could Bieniemy do with Ron Rivera on a hot seat and Howell as his quarterback?
The greater body of work for Bieniemy speaks for itself: a two-time Super Bowl winner with the Chiefs who has the experience of having worked with Patrick Mahomes' most productive seasons as a quarterback. Now he's helping to lead the offense of a resurgent Bears team that's the talk of the NFL, and that chatter will grow much louder if Chicago is able to make any postseason noise.
Maybe Bieniemy is content where he is. Maybe the circuitous route chasing a head coaching role of his own has become an inexplicable mirage, forcing him to abandon some of that ambition for the sake of better mental health. If so, we can only hope Bieniemy is happy in Chicago and enjoys the ride. But if there's some hope to at least become a coordinator again, the Bears' post looks like a worthy portal back into that world. A man worthy of consideration in the past should find himself there once again.