Eric M. Bieniemy Jr. (; born August 15, 1969) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

who is the running backs coach for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

and is their all-time leader in rushing yards (3,940) and touchdowns (42). Bieniemy was also named a unanimous All-American and finished third in

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

voting during their 1990 national championship season. Bieniemy was selected by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in the second round of the

1991 NFL draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Ma ...

, later playing for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

primarily as a special 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 the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

and the NFL's

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, helping develop players such as

Maurice Jones-Drew Maurice Christopher Jones-Drew (born March 23, 1985), often called "MJD", is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college foot ...

and Adrian Peterson. Bieniemy was Colorado's

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for two seasons prior to joining the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

as running backs coach in 2013. He was credited in the development of Jamaal Charles and Kareem Hunt, with the latter leading the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie in 2017. He was promoted to offensive coordinator under head coach

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously the head coach of the Philadelphi ...

in 2018, winning

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 NFL season, 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2019 Kansas City Chiefs season, Kansas City ...

and

Super Bowl LVII Super Bowl LVII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2022 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Confere ...

with the Chiefs. Bieniemy also served as the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in 2023 and the offensive coordinator for the

in 2024 before joining the Bears as their running backs coach in 2025.

Early life

Bieniemy was born on August 15, 1969, in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. He later moved with his family to

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, in 1979 before settling in

West Covina, California West Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located east of downtown Los Angeles in the eastern San Gabriel Valley, it is part of Greater Los Angeles Area, Greater Los Angeles. The population for the city was 109,501 ...

, the following year. He later attended

Bishop Amat Memorial High School Bishop Amat Memorial High School is a co-ed Catholic high school serving the San Gabriel Valley in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and was founded in 1957. The campus is located in La Puente, California, approximately east of dow ...

La Puente, California La Puente ( Spanish for "The Bridge") is a city in east Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city had a population of 39,816 at the 2010 census and is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The original inhabitan ...

lettering Lettering or Lettering design is an act or result of artfully drawing letters, instead of writing them simply. Lettering is considered an art form, where each letter in a phrase or quote acts as an illustration. Each letter is created with attent ...

in football and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. Bieniemy earned second-team All-America football honors as a senior in 1986 after rushing for 2,002 yards and 30 touchdowns.

College career

Bieniemy enrolled at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

in 1987, choosing them over the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

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." He was an immediate starter for the

as a freshman and was named to the 1988 All-Big Eight Conference football team as a sophomore after rushing 219 times for 1,243 yards and 10 touchdowns. He played in the Fifth Down Game against

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

as a senior in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, in which two consecutive rushes by him were counted as second down due to an officiating error. By the end of the 1990 season, he was named the

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

's Offensive Player of the Year while finishing third in

voting after rushing for 1,628 with 17 touchdowns en route to a national championship. Bieniemy is Colorado's all-time leader in rushing (3,940 yards), rushing touchdowns (42), and all-purpose yards (4,351). He was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.

Professional career

Bieniemy was selected by the

in the second round (39th overall) of the

. In 1994, he appeared in

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

and recorded a 33-yard reception, the longest of the game for the team. Bieniemy also played with the

in 1995 to 1998 before retiring after one season with the

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).

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Coaching career

Early college jobs

Bieniemy was an assistant coach at Denver's Thomas Jefferson High School in 2000. He re-enrolled at Colorado in 2001 to finish his degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and was the running backs coach for the Buffaloes from

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and was

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

running back coach from

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, as well as the team's recruiting coordinator in 2005.

Minnesota Vikings

Following UCLA's 2005 Sun Bowl victory, Bieniemy accepted a position as running backs coach for the

in the NFL. 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.

Return to Colorado

On December 2, 2010, Bieniemy returned to Colorado as

under head coach Jon Embree. Bieniemy was offered the head coach position in 2020 at Colorado but he declined.

Kansas City Chiefs

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

head coach

hired Bieniemy to be the running backs coach. In

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Reid promoted Bieniemy to offensive coordinator to succeed Matt Nagy who had been hired as the head coach of the

. In Bieniemy's first season as the Chiefs offensive coordinator, the Chiefs were first in the NFL in yards per game and points scored. The Chiefs scored the third-most points in a season in NFL history with 565. Additionally, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes became the second quarterback in NFL history, along with

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...

, to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season. The Chiefs reached the 2018

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...

where they lost to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Bieniemy won his first Super Bowl when the Chiefs defeated the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

31–20 in

. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, Bieniemy won his second Super Bowl with the Chiefs after defeating the

38–35 in

Washington Commanders

On February 17, 2023, Bieniemy signed a two-year contract with the

to be

Ron Rivera Ronald Eugene Rivera (born January 7, 1962) is an American football executive and former professional player and coach who is the general manager for the California Golden Bears. He played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as ...

's assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. He was given full playcalling duties, something he shared under Chiefs head coach

. 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. Bieniemy was not retained by newly hired head coach Dan Quinn following the season.

UCLA (second stint)

In February 2024, Bieniemy was named the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at

. 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.

Chicago Bears

New Bears head coach Ben Johnson hired Bieniemy to be the running backs coach ahead of the 2025 season.

Personal life

Bieniemy and his wife have two sons. His nephew, Jamal, played basketball at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

and University of Texas El Paso. He also is a member of

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

Legal issues

Bieniemy was arrested along with Colorado teammate Kanavis McGhee following a bar fight in February 1988. McGhee said the dispute arose after Bieniemy alleged that he had been called a "

nigger In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...

" by a bar patron. He pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to community service. Bieniemy also received discipline from head coach Bill McCartney. In 1989, Bieniemy was ticketed in

Westminster, Colorado The City of Westminster is a home rule municipality located in Adams and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 116,317 at the 2020 United States census with 71,240 residing in Adams County and 45,077 residing i ...

, for driving a defective vehicle, and in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, counti ...

for speeding. In October 1990, his license was suspended for a year after another traffic violation. On March 21, 1991, Bieniemy was caught speeding and driving with suspended license on

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 and Maryland Route 570 (MD 570) in Woodlawn, Baltimo ...

near

Rifle, Colorado Rifle is a home-rule municipality in, and the most populous community of, Garfield County, Colorado, United States. Its population was 10,437 at the 2020 census. Rifle is a regional center of the cattle-ranching industry located along Inters ...

, going 92 mph in a 65 mph zone. On April 17, 1991, Bieniemy failed to appear in court on charges relating to the March 21 incident. A bench warrant was issued in Colorado for his arrest on April 23, 1991, two days after Bieniemy was drafted in the NFL. 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. Bieniemy received an eight-month suspended sentence and was suspended for one game. Bieniemy was instructed to do 40 hours of community service and attend an eight-hour firefighting training session. 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. 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 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 school campus for a year. In April 2001, Bieniemy was arrested for driving under the influence and was docked a month's pay.

References

External links

Chicago Bears profile

Colorado Buffaloes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bieniemy, Eric 1969 births 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen African-American coaches of American football All-American college football players American football running backs Bishop Amat Memorial High School alumni Cincinnati Bengals players Coaches of American football from California Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Colorado Buffaloes football players Kansas City Chiefs coaches Living people Minnesota Vikings coaches NFL offensive coordinators People from La Puente, California Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Los Angeles Players of American football from New Orleans San Diego Chargers players UCLA Bruins football coaches Washington Commanders coaches