Eric Bieniemy

Eric M. Bieniemy Jr. (born August 15, 1969) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Bieniemy is a former running back who played in the NFL for nine seasons. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round, 39th overall, of the 1991 NFL Draft.[1] Bieniemy served as the offensive coordinator at Colorado before becoming the running backs coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Eric Bieniemy
Kansas City Chiefs
Position:Offensive coordinator
Personal information
Born: (1969-08-15) August 15, 1969
New Orleans, Louisiana
Height:5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight:207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:Bishop Amat Memorial
(La Puente, California)
College:Colorado
NFL Draft:1991 / Round: 2 / Pick: 39
Career history
As player:
As coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Rushing attempts:387
Rushing Yards:1,589
Rushing TDs:11
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Bieniemy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He lettered in football and track and field at Bishop Amat 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.

Playing career

College

Bieniemy was heavily recruited out of high school and chose to attend the University of Colorado Boulder. He was the nation's second leading rusher with the Buffaloes in 1990 with 1,628 yards, along with 17 touchdowns, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting behind BYU's Ty Detmer (the winner) and Notre Dame's Raghib Ismail.[2] Bieniemy is Colorado's all-time leader in rushing (3,940 yards), all-purpose yards (4,351), and touchdowns (42).[3]

Nicknamed "Scooter" and wearing No. 1, Bieniemy earned consensus All-America honors in 1990 as part of Colorado's national championship 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. As a junior, he was named to CU's prestigious 25-member "All-Century Football Team," the only active player at the time to be selected to the group honoring the first 100 years of Colorado Buffalo football.

[4]

National Football League

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. ESPN broadcaster Chris Berman gave him the nickname "Eric 'sleeping with' Bieniemy", in reference to the 1991 film Sleeping with the Enemy.[5]


Coaching career

Early college jobs

Bieniemy returned to Colorado to complete his degree and was the running backs coach for the Buffaloes from 2001 to 2002 and at UCLA from 2003 to 2005, as well as the team's recruiting coordinator in 2005.[6]

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 tops in the NFL. On July 26, 2010, Bieniemy was also named the Vikings' assistant head coach for the offense.[7]

Return to Colorado

On December 2, 2010, Bieniemy returned to Colorado as offensive coordinator under new head coach Jon Embree.

Kansas City Chiefs

In 2013, Andy Reid hired Bieniemy to be the running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. Reid was familiar with Bieniemy as Reid had coached him on the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2018, Reid promoted Bieniemy to offensive coordinator.[8] In his 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, to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns in a season. [9] In 2019, Bieniemy won his first Super Bowl when the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV

Personal life

Bieniemy and his wife, Mia, have two sons, Eric III and Elijah.[3] His nephew, Jamal, plays basketball at Oklahoma.[10] Also is a member of Omega Psi Phi.

References
  1. "1991 Draft". NFL.com. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  2. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1990.html
  3. "Eric Bieniemy". lostlettermen.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  4. https://www.cincyjungle.com/2019/1/6/18169793/bengals-coach-search-chiefs-eric-bieniemy-vance-joseph-broncos
  5. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/455818-ten-of-the-best-chris-berman-football-nicknames#slide5
  6. https://dailybruin.com/2004/04/05/football-bieniemy-to-likely-fa/
  7. "Vikings promote RB coach Bieniemy". espn.com. July 26, 2010. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  8. Bergman, Jeremy (January 9, 2018). "Chiefs promote Eric Bieniemy to offensive coordinator". NFL.com.
  9. Lund, Spencer. "Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Becomes 2nd Ever to Throw 50 TDs and 5,000 Yards in a Season". complex.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  10. "Jamal Bieniemy player profile". SoonerSports.com.
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