Chicago Bears running backs coach Eric Bieniemy is set to become the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, according to an NFL Network report Wednesday. Bieniemy will resume a role he held in Kansas City from 2018-22.
Bieniemy’s stint with the Bears was brief but productive. In his lone season on coach Ben Johnson’s staff, the Bears went from 25th in the league in rushing in 2024 (102 yards per game) to No. 3 (144.5 ypg).
Bieniemy originally worked his way up the coaching ladder as a running backs coach. He coached Adrian Peterson with the Minnesota Vikings in the mid-2000s, among other high-profile backs.
He was the Chiefs running backs coach from 2013-17. When offensive coordinator Matt Nagy left Kansas City in 2018 to become the Bears head coach, the Chiefs promoted Bieniemy to replace him. Bieniemy won two Super Bowls as the Chiefs coordinator.
Now, with Nagy’s contract expired, the Chiefs are bringing back Bieniemy to once again replace Nagy.
Johnson said during his end-of-season news conference Wednesday that several of his coaches had received interview requests in recent days.
“When you have success and you win games, normally that’s what happens,” Johnson said. “I know we already have some slips coming through that other teams would like to interview some of our guys, and I’m all for it, man. I want these guys to continue to ascend. Anything I can do to help them out, I think they all know I’m more than willing to do that.”
Under Bieniemy’s tutelage, Bears running back D’Andre Swift produced career highs with 1,087 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. Rookie Kyle Monangai, a seventh-round draft pick, totaled 783 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
“He has meant a lot,” Monangai said of Bieniemy on Monday. “Most of all, he helped me to understand what it takes to be a great running back in this league and the amount of detail, the focus, the preparation and all those things.
“Just learning from him as a running back coach, someone who has been a former OC and has coached great players, he definitely helped me out a lot from OTAs when we first met until now.”