The Bruins are moving on from Bieniemy, sources told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. The former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator and NFL running back joined UCLA’s staff in 2024 as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach following the hire of Deshaun Foster as the team’s head coach.
UCLA went 5-7 in 2024 and was 3-6 in the Big Ten. The Bruins averaged 5.4 yards a play and scored just 18.4 points per game. Only eight teams across the top level of college football averaged fewer points than the Bruins and UCLA scored more than 20 points just twice all season.
Bieniemy, 55, interviewed multiple times for NFL head coaching positions while he was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator. He joined Andy Reid’s staff in 2013 when Reid became the Chiefs’ head coach and was the team’s running backs coach through the 2017 season. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2018 as Patrick Mahomes became the team’s starting quarterback.
However, Bieniemy never got a head coaching job in the NFL and moved on from the Chiefs after the 2022 season. Five NFL teams had job openings that offseason and he interviewed for just one.
Bieniemy became the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders in 2023, but he spent just one season with the team as the organization went through wholesale changes following the season. Washington’s new ownership group changed the coaching staff and hired Dan Quinn as the team’s head coach with former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury serving as the offensive coordinator for No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Daniels.
Before coaching for the Chiefs, Bieniemy was the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Colorado, for two seasons and had served as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Vikings. It’s unclear just where Bieniemy’s next coaching stop will be and it’d have been hard to fathom four years ago that Bieniemy would be leaving his third job in three seasons at the end of 2024 instead of being the head coach of an NFL team. [Reply]
Originally Posted by wazu: I'm willing to accept that EB's recipe may only work in KC. Team and coaching dynamics are complicated. Andy creates a culture where he gets the best versions of people, and his demeanor keeps it all on an even keel. EB is a little bit of a disruptor and a different style than some of the other coaches. It somehow worked amazingly. Look at that stat line from 2022. We have better WRs now, even without Rashee, than we did then.
I read the bolded statement as follows.
As long as Eric Bieniemy has Andy Reid to oversee the entire football team, design the plays, and select the plays for this upcoming game's playsheet, and he has Patrick Mahomes (the greatest player to ever live) exuding his natural leadership ability on the field, then his recipe of holding the pre-made playsheet and jumping up and down waving his arms like a jackass in anger when things don't go perfectly, to the point of annoying the greatest player to ever live into exhibiting rare negative body language will work.
If so, you're spot on. His faceplants after leaving KC have been pretty epic. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Wallcrawler:
I read the bolded statement as follows.
As long as Eric Bieniemy has Andy Reid to oversee the entire football team, design the plays, and select the plays for this upcoming game's playsheet, and he has Patrick Mahomes (the greatest player to ever live) exuding his natural leadership ability on the field, then his recipe of holding the pre-made playsheet and jumping up and down waving his arms like a jackass in anger when things don't go perfectly, to the point of annoying the greatest player to ever live into exhibiting rare negative body language will work.
If so, you're spot on. His faceplants after leaving KC have been pretty epic.
That is acting like he provides zero value. EBs strength is discipline and accountability. By itself it will rub people the wrong way, but it's different being a hardass coaching for a players coach (yeah, we know reid is tough but fair). He's not a primary playcaller but would I like him helping design the run schemes? Yeah. And the offensive coaching staff we currently have in place is probably just a little too nice. An asshole would fit in nicely.
I love myself some Patrick mahomes but if we're being real he may need some of that kick in the ass too. Just keep him away from being a primary assistant or playcaller to keep a little more distance than last time [Reply]
Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501:
That is acting like he provides zero value. EBs strength is discipline and accountability. By itself it will rub people the wrong way, but it's different being a hardass coaching for a players coach (yeah, we know reid is tough but fair). He's not a primary playcaller but would I like him helping design the run schemes? Yeah. And the offensive coaching staff we currently have in place is probably just a little too nice. An asshole would fit in nicely.
I love myself some Patrick mahomes but if we're being real he may need some of that kick in the ass too. Just keep him away from being a primary assistant or playcaller to keep a little more distance than last time
That's just the thing. This idea that he's some kind of great disciplinarian is based solely on his time in KC. ALL of the evidence outside of KC suggests otherwise. Does he provide zero value? No. Everybody has some value. His value is being dramatically overstated. [Reply]
I like how Bearcat is subtly mocking this idiot by posting a smiley at the end of every reply. This guy's grasp of the English language is so limited that he's forced to use a small number of preset cartoon faces to communicate whatever moronic emotion he's exhibiting. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
That's just the thing. This idea that he's some kind of great disciplinarian is based solely on his time in KC. ALL of the evidence outside of KC suggests otherwise. Does he provide zero value? No. Everybody has some value. His value is being dramatically overstated.
But all of the evidence outside of KC are largely shitty situations. He has been in no win situations given his offensive personnel and he probably isn't a good playcaller even with good players. That doesn't mean he isn't a really nice piece as an assistant coach for a coach who is excellent at managing players. We haven't seen that disproven yet.
Because at the same time I think most of us would agree that our discipline on offense took an absolute nosedive when EB left and I don't think that's a coincidence. And that isn't just a talent issue. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Myth. Neither one of them have that much effect. This team is driven by Mahomes and Reid.
It's hard not to notice that the offense has been considerably less productive/in sync since the day he left. It was noticeable in the first preseason game last year.
It's not like the personnel was great in '22. Top WRs were Smith-Schuster and MVS, with Orlando Brown at LT. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar:
It's hard not to notice that the offense has been considerably less productive since the day he left. It was noticeable in the first preseason game last year.
It's not like the personnel was great in '22. Top WRs were Smith-Schuster and MVS, with Orlando Brown at LT.
Precisely why you eliminate the Chiefs-related variables. The drop off in offense could just as easily be due to personnel changes and other factors.
Look at his record outside of KC. He's just not that good of a coach. [Reply]
Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501:
But all of the evidence outside of KC are largely shitty situations. He has been in no win situations given his offensive personnel and he probably isn't a good playcaller even with good players. That doesn't mean he isn't a really nice piece as an assistant coach for a coach who is excellent at managing players. We haven't seen that disproven yet.
Because at the same time I think most of us would agree that our discipline on offense took an absolute nosedive when EB left and I don't think that's a coincidence. And that isn't just a talent issue.
Matt Nagy inherited a team that has been to 3 playoff games in 20 years and took them to the playoffs 2 out of 3 years. Yet somehow he's a moron.
Meanwhile EB has failed not once, not twice, but every time he's had a job outside of KC. And not only that but pretty much every player and coach he's worked with outside of KC doesn't like him.
There's absolutely zero evidence that EB is a great coach. There's no evidence that suggests he's even a good motivator. . None.
This is all nostalgia. People pining for the good old days. [Reply]
I'm sure EB could have fixed our LT problems by holding our over matched LT's accountable, benching them, and putting in a body off the street. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
Matt Nagy inherited a team that has been to 3 playoff games in 20 years and took them to the playoffs 2 out of 3 years. Yet somehow he's a moron.
Meanwhile EB has failed not once, not twice, but every time he's had a job outside of KC. And not only that but pretty much every player and coach he's worked with outside of KC doesn't like him.
There's absolutely zero evidence that EB is a great coach. There's no evidence that suggests he's even a good motivator. . None.
This is all nostalgia. People pining for the good old days.
Didn't say anything about Nagy. It's not an indictment on him. They have different strengths and weaknesses. And I'm not sure that discipline is nagys strength, just as creative playcalling isn't EBs. I don't think anyone is suggesting EB should be an oc and replace Nagy. More that it might be an interesting yin and yang.
The comment about EB failing everywhere else applies to lots of Reid coaches, including Nagy, who do much better under Reid [Reply]
Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501:
Didn't say anything about Nagy. It's not an indictment on him. They have different strengths and weaknesses. And I'm not sure that discipline is nagys strength, just as creative playcalling isn't EBs. I don't think anyone is suggesting EB should be an oc and replace Nagy. More that it might be an interesting yin and yang.
The comment about EB failing everywhere else applies to lots of Reid coaches, including Nagy, who do much better under Reid
Sorry but LOTS of people are suggesting that, especially on social media. Even here you see a fuckton of "fire Nagy" and then this bring back EB shit.
As for what happens to Reid coaches after they leave, that even further reinforced that it's Reid (and Mahomes) that are the true engine here, not the figurehead at OC.
I have yet to see any evidence in this thread proving the assertion that EB is some great motivator. People keep saying it but they can't provide a single instance where it actually happened.
I'm not anti-EB. I'm anti-double standard. And I'm sure as shit anti making shit up. Which is exactly what all this is. [Reply]
