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Eric Bieniemy

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Eric Bieniemy
refer to caption
Bieniemy with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021
Kansas City Chiefs
Position:Offensive coordinator and assistant head coach
Personal information
Born: (1969-08-15) August 15, 1969 (age 55)
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Height:5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight:205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:Bishop Amat Memorial (La Puente, California)
College:Colorado (1987–1990)
NFL draft:1991 / round: 2 / pick: 39
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
As player
As coach
Career NFL statistics
Rushing attempts:387
Rushing yards:1,589
Rushing touchdowns:11
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Record at Pro Football Reference

Eric M. Bieniemy Jr. (born August 15, 1969) is an American football coach and former running back who is the offensive coordinator (OC) and assistant head coach for the Washington Commanders. Prior to his role in Washington, he was the running backs coach and then offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes, where he was recognized as a consensus All-American before being selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 1991 NFL Draft. He also played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles.

Following his playing career, Bieniemy coached running backs for Colorado and the UCLA Bruins before joining the Minnesota Vikings for the same role in 2006. He was Colorado's OC for two seasons before joining the Chiefs as running backs coach in 2013, being promoted to OC in 2018. Bieniemy won Super Bowl LIV and Super Bowl LVII with the Chiefs.

Early years

Bieniemy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 15, 1969. He lettered in football and track and field at Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, California, earning second-team All-America honors in football as a senior when he rushed for 2,002 yards and 30 touchdowns.[1]

College career

Bieniemy attended the University of Colorado Boulder and played for the Colorado Buffaloes football team. He was a two-time first-team all Big-Eight performer, in 1988 and 1990, earning the conference's offensive Player of the Year honor as a senior. During their 1990 national championship season, he received All-America honors and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting after recording 1,628 yards with 17 touchdowns.[2] Bieniemy is Colorado's all-time leader in rushing (3,940 yards), all-purpose yards (4,351), and touchdowns (42).[3]

Professional career

Bieniemy played from 1991 through 1999, and finished his career with 1,589 yards rushing, 1,223 yards receiving, 276 yards returning punts, 1,621 yards on kickoff returns, and 12 touchdowns (11 rushing and one kickoff return) while playing for the San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles.

Coaching career

Early college jobs

Bieniemy returned to Colorado in 2001 to finish his degree 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.[4]

Minnesota Vikings

Following UCLA's 2005 Sun Bowl victory, Bieniemy accepted a position as running backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL. During his time as the Vikings running back coach, his leading rusher 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.[5]

Return to Colorado

On December 2, 2010, Bieniemy returned to Colorado as offensive coordinator under head coach Jon Embree. In 2020, Bieniemy was offered the head coach position at Colorado but declined.[6]

Kansas City Chiefs

In 2013, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid hired Bieniemy to be the running backs coach.In 2018, Reid promoted Bieniemy to offensive coordinator to succeed Matt Nagy who had been hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears.[7] In Bieniemy's first season as the Chiefs offensive coordinator, the Chiefs were first in the NFL in yards per game and points scored.[6] 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, to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season.[8] The Chiefs reached the 2018 AFC Championship Game where they lost to the New England Patriots. In 2019, Bieniemy won his first Super Bowl when the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31–20 in Super Bowl LIV. In 2022, Bieniemy won his second Super Bowl with the Chiefs after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII.

Bieniemy has been a primary head coaching candidate since the 2019 offseason, and he has been a commonly noted example within the large amounts of criticism over how few league owners were hiring black candidates. Since the 2019 offseason, Bieniemy has had interviews and interview requests from 17 teams in the entire league — the Bengals, Dolphins, Jets, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Panthers, Browns, Giants, Falcons, Lions, Texans, Jaguars, Chargers, Eagles, Broncos, Saints and Colts — but was passed over. He was hired as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the Washington Commanders in February 2023.

As a player at Colorado, Bieniemy was arrested along with teammate Kanavis McGhee following a February 1988 bar fight. McGhee said the dispute arose after Bieniemy alleged that he had been called a "little n*gger" by a bar patron.[9] He pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct and fighting in public, and was sentenced to community service.[9] Bieniemy also received discipline from head coach Bill McCartney.[9]

In 1989, Bieniemy was ticketed in Westminster, Colorado for driving a defective vehicle, and in Aurora, Colorado 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 I-70 near Rifle, Colorado, 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 1991 NFL Draft.[10]

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.[10] Bieniemy received an eight-month suspended sentence[11] and was suspended for one game.[12] Bieniemy was instructed to do 40 hours of community service and attend an eight-hour firefighting training session.[10] 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.[10]

On September 27, 1993, Bieniemy was arrested in Boulder, Colorado, 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 ,"[11] 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 one year.[4][13]

In April 2001, Bieniemy was arrested for driving under the influence and was docked a month's pay.[14]

Personal life

Bieniemy and his wife, Mia, have two sons, Eric III and Elijah.[3] A nephew, Jamal, played basketball at the University of Oklahoma and University of Texas El Paso.[15] He also is a member of Omega Psi Phi.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Robb, Sharon (December 25, 1989). "Colorado's Bieniemy Puts Problems in Past". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  2. ^ "1990 Heisman Trophy Voting". Archived from the original on December 12, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Eric Bieniemy". lostlettermen.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Bach, Jessica; Tran, Bruce (April 5, 2004). "Football: Bieniemy to likely face questioning". Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  5. ^ "Vikings promote RB coach Bieniemy". espn.com. July 26, 2010. Archived from the original on December 10, 2010. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Eric Bieniemy is ready to be a head coach. Which NFL team will finally take him?". Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  7. ^ Bergman, Jeremy (January 9, 2018). "Chiefs promote Eric Bieniemy to offensive coordinator". NFL.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Lund, Spencer. "Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Becomes 2nd Ever to Throw 50 TDs and 5,000 Yards in a Season". complex.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Reilly, Rick (February 27, 1989). "What Price Glory?". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d "Newest Charger on the Run : Colorado Warrant for Bieniemy's Arrest Is Latest Brush with Law". Los Angeles Times. April 23, 1991. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Chargers' Bieniemy Arrested". Orlando Sentinel. September 27, 1993. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "Colorado tailback suspended for alteraction". UPI. July 24, 1990. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  13. ^ "Lawrence Journal-World - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  14. ^ "Eric Bieniemy Arrested in DUI Case". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  15. ^ "Jamal Bieniemy player profile". SoonerSports.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
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