UCLA is reportedly hiring Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to fulfill the same role and be the Bruins associate head coach.
According to Pete Thamel and Adam Schefter of ESPN, Bieniemy and UCLA are “finalizing a two-year deal” for him to return to college football. Bieniemy has previous coaching experience in the soon-to-be broken up Pac-12 Conference.
READ: Judge grants injunction in Tennessee lawsuit, prohibiting NCAA from enforcing NIL rules
Bieniemy will be part of a new UCLA coaching staff including head coach DeShaun Foster, who succeeds Chip Kelly who departed for the offensive coordinator job at Ohio State.
Bieniemy will bring plenty of NFL coaching experience with him to UCLA, too. He worked as Commanders offensive coordinator last season after five years with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The New Orleans native’s first coaching job came at his alma mater Colorado, coaching running backs from 2001-02. He then coached at UCLA in the same role from 2003-05.
READ: ‘I’m in the game’: CFB players share their participation in upcoming EA Sports ‘College Football 25’
Bieniemy’s first jump to the NFL came in 2006 when he became running backs coach with the Minnesota Vikings. There, he coached future rushing leader Adrian Peterson and earned a promotion to assistant head coach in 2010.
Bieniemy returned to college and was offensive coordinator at Colorado from 2011-12. He then took his first job with the Chiefs as running backs coach from 2013-17.
