Eric Bieniemy has found a new home in LA, having joined the UCLA Bruins as their Offensive Coordinator. The two-time Super Bowl-winning coach spent the 2023 season with the Commanders, holding the positions of assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator. Despite his impressive resume, Bieniemy’s offense in 2023 was ranked 21st, leading to his non-retention by the new Head Coach, Dan Quinn.
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Despite expectations for Bieniemy to receive offers from NFL franchises for offensive coordinator positions after leaving Washington, recent reports suggest that the only offers he received were for roles such as running backs coach or pass-game coordinator, perceived by many as a step down from his previous positions.
Eric Bieniemy’s only NFL offers were to be an RBs coach or a pass-game coordinator. That would’ve been a step back for an offensive coordinator with 2 Super Bowl rings.
— Rob Maaddi (@RobMaaddi) February 25, 2024
Aside from his recent 4-13 season with the Commanders, where they ranked 21st in offense, Eric Bieniemy has excelled as an Offensive Coordinator with other clubs, notably the Chiefs. Utilizing the revered West Coast offense, in his first season with the defending Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs led the league in points scored and yards per game, amassing 565 points. In that season, Patrick Mahomes, in his first full season as a starter, threw for 5,000 yards and 50 TDs. The following season, the Chiefs secured their first Super Bowl victory in half a century.
Over the next two seasons, Mahomes consistently threw for over 4,000 yards. In 2022, the two-time MVP had the best season of his NFL career, throwing for 5,250 yards with 41 TD passes and securing another Lombardi Trophy.
2-time Lombardy winning coach has been through many coaching jobs, starting his coaching journey in the year 2000 as an assistant coach with Thomas Jefferson High School. Now he goes back to UCLA where he spent three seasons in the early 2000s.
Where Was Eric Bieniemy Before Joining UCLA?
Eric Bieniemy is set to embark on his new role as the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at UCLA, marking a return to Los Angeles after nearly two decades. In the early 2000s, the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach served as the Running Backs coach and recruiter for the Bruins for three seasons.
Bieniemy’s brief stint as the Offensive Coordinator in Washington saw the team average 312.8 yards per match and score touchdowns 39 times, placing them 24th in the league. Despite scoring less than 20 points per match, they boasted the fifth-best red zone offense with a 63.3% touchdown rate.
Eric Bieniemy’s initial role as Offensive Coordinator came at Colorado, where he spent two seasons before making his return to the NFL in 2013. In that year, Andy Reid was appointed as the Chiefs’ Head Coach and brought Bieniemy on board as the Running Backs coach. Serving in that capacity for five seasons, he was eventually promoted to Offensive Coordinator when Matt Nagy departed for Chicago.
It was in this role that Bieniemy truly excelled, guiding the Chiefs to become one of the league’s top offenses and securing two Super Bowl victories. Patrick Mahomes, under Bieniemy’s guidance, achieved 5,000 passing yards twice in their five seasons together.
After UCLA finished with an 8-5 record and parted ways with Chip Kelly, Bieniemy, a former Chiefs coach, now has the opportunity to reinvent himself under the leadership of new HC DeShaun Foster. Taking the job at Washington initially seemed like a promising chance to step out of Andy Reid‘s shadow and demonstrate his coaching prowess beyond Kansas. However, the challenges of dealing with limited offensive weapons and coaching deficiencies in other departments might make the job more challenging as per FANSIDED.
