Eric Bieniemy

Eric M. Bieniemy Jr. (bee-EN-uh-me; born August 15, 1969) is an American professional football coach and former running back who is the running backs coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes 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 voting during their 1990 national championship season.

Bieniemy was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 1991 NFL draft, later playing for the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles 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 and the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, helping develop players such as Maurice Jones-Drew and Adrian Peterson.

Bieniemy was Colorado's offensive coordinator for two seasons prior to joining the Kansas City Chiefs 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 in 2018, winning Super Bowl LIV and Super Bowl LVII with the Chiefs. Bieniemy also served as the Washington Commanders assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in 2023 and the offensive coordinator for the UCLA Bruins in 2024 before joining the Bears as their running backs coach in 2025.

Bieniemy was born on August 15, 1969, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He later moved with his family to Hollywood, California, in 1979 before settling in West Covina, California, the following year. He later attended Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, California, lettering in football and track and field. Bieniemy earned second-team All-America football honors as a senior in 1986 after rushing for 2,002 yards and 30 touchdowns.

Bieniemy enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1987, choosing them over the University 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." He was an immediate starter for the Colorado Buffaloes 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 as a senior in 1990, 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's Offensive Player of the Year while finishing third in Heisman Trophy 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.

Bieniemy was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round (39th overall) of the 1991 NFL draft. In 1994, he appeared in Super Bowl XXIX and recorded a 33-yard reception, the longest of the game for the team. Bieniemy also played with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1995 to 1998 before retiring after one season with the Philadelphia 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).

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 and was the running backs coach for the Buffaloes from 2001 to 2002 and was UCLA running back coach from 2003 to 2005, as well as the team's recruiting coordinator in 2005.