.jpg) Bieniemy with theKansas City Chiefs in 2021 | |||||||||
| Kansas City Chiefs | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Offensive coordinator | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1969-08-15)August 15, 1969 (age 56) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Bishop Amat(La Puente, California) | ||||||||
| College | Colorado (1987–1990) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1991: 2nd round, 38th overall pick | ||||||||
| Position | Running back, No. 32, 21, 33 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Coaching profile at Pro Football Reference | |||||||||
Eric M. Bieniemy Jr. (bee-EN-uh-me;[1] born August 15, 1969) is an American professionalfootball coach and formerrunning back who is the offensive coordinator for theKansas City Chiefs of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theColorado Buffaloes and is their all-time leader in rushing yards (3,940) and touchdowns (42). Bieniemy was also named aunanimous All-American and finished third inHeisman Trophy voting during their1990 national championship season.
Bieniemy was selected by theSan Diego Chargers in the second round of the1991 NFL draft, later playing for theCincinnati Bengals andPhiladelphia Eagles primarily as aspecial teamer before returning to Colorado in the early 2000s to finish his degree. Following that, he was hired as the school's running backs coach and later coached for theUCLA Bruins and the NFL'sMinnesota Vikings, helping develop players such asMaurice Jones-Drew andAdrian Peterson.
Bieniemy was Colorado'soffensive coordinator for two seasons prior to joining theKansas City Chiefs as running backs coach in 2013. He was credited in the development ofJamaal Charles andKareem Hunt, with the latterleading the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie in 2017. He was promoted to offensive coordinator under head coachAndy Reid in 2018, winningSuper Bowl LIV andSuper Bowl LVII with the Chiefs. Bieniemy also served as theWashington Commanders assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in 2023 and the offensive coordinator for theUCLA Bruins in 2024 before joining the Bears as their running backs coach in 2025. In 2026, the Chiefs brought back Bieniemy to be their offensive coordinator again under head coachAndy Reid.
Bieniemy was born on August 15, 1969, inNew Orleans, Louisiana. He later moved with his family toHollywood, California, in 1979 before settling inWest Covina, California, the following year.[2] He later attendedBishop Amat Memorial High School inLa Puente, California,lettering in football andtrack and field. Bieniemy earned second-team All-America football honors as a senior in 1986 after rushing for 2,002 yards and 30 touchdowns.[3]
Bieniemy enrolled at theUniversity of Colorado Boulder in 1987, choosing them over theUniversity of Southern California explaining: "I had been used to living in a big city; I had never been in a small city. It was pretty, it was the first time in snow, it was just something different. I wanted to be a part of it."[2] He was an immediate starter for theColorado Buffaloes as a freshman and was named to the1988 All-Big Eight Conference football team as a sophomore after rushing 219 times for 1,243 yards and 10 touchdowns.[4][5]
He played in theFifth Down Game againstMissouri as a senior in1990, in which two consecutive rushes by him were counted as second down due to an officiating error.[6] By the end of the 1990 season, he was named theBig Eight Conference's Offensive Player of the Year while finishing third inHeisman Trophy voting after rushing for 1,628 with 17 touchdowns en route to a national championship.[7][8] Bieniemy is Colorado's all-time leader in rushing (3,940 yards), rushing touchdowns (42), and all-purpose yards (4,351).[9] He was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.[10]
| Season | GP | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 1987 | 11 | 104 | 508 | 4.9 | 5 | 10 | 186 | 18.6 | 1 |
| 1988 | 10 | 219 | 1,243 | 5.7 | 10 | 2 | 20 | 10 | 0 |
| 1989 | 8 | 88 | 561 | 6.4 | 9 | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 |
| 1990 | 11 | 288 | 1,628 | 5.7 | 17 | 13 | 159 | 12.2 | 0 |
| Career[4] | 40 | 699 | 3,940 | 5.6 | 41 | 27 | 380 | 14.1 | 1 |
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft7+1⁄8 in (1.70 m) | 208 lb (94 kg) | 29+1⁄2 in (0.75 m) | 9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) | 4.50 s | 1.62 s | 2.65 s | 36.0 in (0.91 m) | 9 ft 1 in (2.77 m) | 19 reps |
Bieniemy was selected by theSan Diego Chargers in the second round (39th overall) of the1991 NFL draft.[11] In 1994, he appeared inSuper Bowl XXIX and recorded a 33-yard reception, the longest of the game for the team. Bieniemy also played with theCincinnati Bengals in 1995 to 1998 before retiring after one season with thePhiladelphia Eagles in 1999. He finished his career with 1,589 rushing yards, 1,223 receiving yards, 276 return yards, 1,621 yards on kickoff returns, and 12 touchdowns (11 rushing and one kickoff).
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Kick returns | Punt returns | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1991 | SD | 15 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 5.7 | 15 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1992 | SD | 15 | 0 | 74 | 264 | 3.6 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 49 | 9.8 | 25 | 0 | 15 | 257 | 17.1 | 30 | 0 | 30 | 229 | 7.6 | 21 | 0 |
| 1993 | SD | 16 | 0 | 33 | 135 | 4.1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 110 | 15.7 | 18 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1994 | SD | 16 | 0 | 73 | 295 | 4.0 | 36 | 0 | 5 | 48 | 9.6 | 25 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1995 | CIN | 16 | 1 | 98 | 381 | 3.9 | 27 | 3 | 43 | 424 | 9.9 | 33 | 0 | 8 | 168 | 21.0 | 34 | 0 | 7 | 47 | 6.7 | 10 | 0 |
| 1996 | CIN | 16 | 0 | 56 | 269 | 4.8 | 33 | 2 | 32 | 272 | 8.5 | 42 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1997 | CIN | 16 | 0 | 21 | 97 | 4.6 | 20 | 1 | 31 | 249 | 8.0 | 21 | 0 | 34 | 789 | 23.2 | 102 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1998 | CIN | 16 | 0 | 17 | 56 | 3.3 | 9 | 0 | 27 | 153 | 5.7 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 87 | 17.4 | 22 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1999 | PHI | 16 | 0 | 12 | 75 | 6.3 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 27 | 0 | 10 | 210 | 21.0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| Career | 142 | 1 | 387 | 1,589 | 4.1 | 36 | 11 | 146 | 1,223 | 8.4 | 42 | 0 | 79 | 1,621 | 20.5 | 102 | 1 | 37 | 276 | 7.5 | 21 | 0 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | Kick returns | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1992 | SD | 2 | 0 | 17 | 64 | 3.8 | 14 | 0 | 1 | -4 | -4.0 | -4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| 1994 | SD | 3 | 0 | 5 | 36 | 7.2 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 33.0 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 |
| Career | 5 | 0 | 22 | 100 | 4.5 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 29 | 14.5 | 33 | 0 | 2 | 27 | 13.5 | 14 | 0 | |
Bieniemy was an assistant coach at Denver'sThomas Jefferson High School in 2000.[12] He re-enrolled at Colorado in 2001 to finish his degree insociology and was the running backs coach for the Buffaloes from2001 to2002 and wasUCLA running back coach from2003 to2005, as well as the team's recruiting coordinator in 2005.[13]
Following UCLA's2005 Sun Bowl victory, Bieniemy accepted a position as running backs coach for theMinnesota Vikings in theNFL. During his time with the Vikings,Adrian Peterson led the NFC in rushing with 1,341 yards in 2007 and also in 2008 with 1,760 yards, which was also top in the NFL. Bieniemy was given the title of assistant head coach in 2010.[14]
On December 2, 2010, Bieniemy returned to Colorado asoffensive coordinator under head coachJon Embree. Bieniemy was offered the head coach position in 2020 at Colorado but he declined.[15]
In2013,Kansas City Chiefs head coachAndy Reid hired Bieniemy to be the running backs coach. In2018, Reid promoted Bieniemy to offensive coordinator to succeedMatt Nagy who had been hired as the head coach of theChicago Bears.[16] In Bieniemy's first season as the Chiefs offensive coordinator, the Chiefs were first in the NFL in yards per game and points scored.[15] The Chiefs scored the third-most points in a season in NFL history with 565. Additionally, Chiefs quarterbackPatrick Mahomes became the second quarterback in NFL history, along withPeyton Manning, to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season.[17] The Chiefs reached the 2018AFC Championship Game where they lost to theNew England Patriots. In2019, Bieniemy won his first Super Bowl when the Chiefs defeated theSan Francisco 49ers 31–20 inSuper Bowl LIV.[18] In2022, Bieniemy won his second Super Bowl with the Chiefs after defeating thePhiladelphia Eagles 38–35 inSuper Bowl LVII.[19]
On February 17, 2023, Bieniemy signed a two-year contract with theWashington Commanders to beRon Rivera'sassistant head coach and offensive coordinator.[20][21] He was given full playcalling duties, something he did not share under Chiefs head coachAndy Reid.[22] At the conclusion of his first season with Washington, the Commanders finished with a 4–13 record. Bieniemy's offense ranked 21st in average yards per game.[23] Bieniemy was not retained by newly hired head coachDan Quinn following the season.[24]
In February 2024, Bieniemy was named the associate head coach and offensive coordinator atUCLA.[25] He was dismissed on December 5, 2024, after UCLA finished their season 5–7, ranking 117th in yards per game and 126th in points scored per game.[26][27]
On February 20, 2025, theChicago Bears hired Bieniemy as their running backs coach on the staff of new head coachBen Johnson.[28] His coaching was considered a large contribution to the performances ofD'Andre Swift, who achieved a career season high of 1,087 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns, and rookieKyle Monangai, who recorded 783 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.[29][30][31]
Following the Chiefs' decision to move on from Nagy at the end of his contract, Bieniemy signed a multi-year contract to return to the team as their offensive coordinator on January 23, 2026.[32]
Bieniemy and his wife have two sons.[9] His nephew, Jamal, played basketball at theUniversity of Oklahoma andUniversity of Texas El Paso.[33] He also is a member ofOmega Psi Phi.[2]
Bieniemy was arrested along with Colorado teammateKanavis McGhee following a bar fight in February 1988. McGhee said the dispute arose after Bieniemy alleged that he had been called a "nigger" by a bar patron.[34] He pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to community service.[34] Bieniemy also received discipline from head coachBill McCartney.[34]
On July 4, 1990, Bieniemy pleaded no contest to interfering with a firefighter who had been performing his duties to extinguish a fire in Bieniemy's mother's garage.[35] Bieniemy received an eight-month suspended sentence[36] and was suspended for one game.[37] Bieniemy was instructed to do 40 hours of community service and attend an eight-hour firefighting training session.[35] An assistant city attorney said that Bieniemy failed to attend the firefighting training session as stipulated in the plea agreement, but Bieniemy asserted the session was optional.[35]
On September 27, 1993, Bieniemy was arrested for allegedly harassing a female parking attendant. According to the police report, while with his friends, Bieniemy put his hand on the attendant's neck, startling her. She told police[36] that Bieniemy and his friends took off their pants and began urinating nearby. Bieniemy was also named in an outstanding warrant on a charge of driving with a suspended license. As a result of this incident, Bieniemy was banned from the University of Colorado Boulder campus for a year.[13][38]
In April 2001, Bieniemy was arrested for driving under the influence and was docked a month's pay.[39]
