Getty Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy of the Washington Commanders.
The Chicago Bears need a new offensive coordinator, and mining current and past employees of the Kansas City Chiefs organization for talent has been a popular move in the Windy City over the last half-decade.
Adam Jahns of The Athletic on Wednesday, January 10, put together a list of several potential OC candidates the Bears might consider over the coming weeks, though one name in particular jumped off the page — that of Eric Bieniemy of the Washington Commanders, who won two Super Bowl rings with the Chiefs during his tenure in Kansas City.
Bieniemy jumped to the nation’s capital for a pay raise and bump in job title (to include assistant head coach) in 2023 after five years as Andy Reid’s top offensive lieutenant with the Chiefs. Bieniemy got the OC job in Kansas City after former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy left to take the Bears head coaching position in 2018.
Ryan Poles, the former executive director of player personnel in Kansas City, assumed the position of general manager in Chicago ahead of the 2022 campaign. He is now searching for someone to replace fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and complement head coach Matt Eberflus, who made his bones as a defensive coordinator in the league before becoming the Bears head coach two years ago.
“Poles knows Bieniemy better than most. Their history spans nine seasons together with the Chiefs,” Jahns wrote. “That’s why it’s interesting that Poles never interviewed Bieniemy in 2022. The Bears and special adviser Bill Polian presented three finalists to Poles after he was hired: Eberflus, Jim Caldwell and Dan Quinn. But Poles was still allowed to expand his search if he wanted. He didn’t. He already liked Eberflus.”
Commanders May Pass Over Eric Bieniemy as Head Coaching Candidate, Open Door for Bears
GettyWashington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
Bieniemy is hungry for a head coaching job. As such, he may not want to make another lateral career move by accepting the position as the Bears’ new offensive coordinator.
Although Bieniemy didn’t get the opportunity to lead the Commanders as their head coach in 2023, the organization did afford him play-calling duties — an area of the offense that has always remained Reid’s purview in Kansas City. Washington fired head coach Ron Rivera on Monday, which potentially clears the way for Bieniemy to take over head coaching duties.
However, public comments from some Commanders players, including tight end Logan Thomas, could put a damper on Bieniemy’s chances to elevate into the job he’s been seeking for years.
“I think we had our ups and downs with [Bieniemy],” Thomas said on January 7, per Ben Standig of The Athletic. “I might be the only one to say it, but I think we had our ups and downs. We had some good, some bad. It’s one of those things where [someone] new comes in after you’ve been used to something else for a couple years, and sometimes you can bang heads.”
Bears Offensive Coordinator Job Highly Attractive Across NFL
GettyChicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus.
Chicago may need to do a little recruiting to entice Bieniemy to consider its open OC position, but team brass believes the opportunity speaks for itself.
“I don’t think we’ll have a problem at all getting world class candidates, not only from an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach standpoint [but from] a defensive coordinator standpoint,” Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said Wednesday. “This is a job that people are excited about to come here, and we have a lot of talent. It’s always exciting to join an organization when you’re on the upswing to be able to help take it to the top.”
Chicago has promising quarterback Justin Fields under contract through 2024, along with a team option on the deal for 2025. However, the Bears also own the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
The team can either take an elite QB prospect with that selection or trade back for a massive haul of assets to build around Fields, both of which are exciting prospects for an offensive coordinator who the team is likely to empower from Day 1.
The Bears also have more than $62 million in salary cap space with which to operate as of Thursday, and the offensive line and wide receiver positions should be priorities this offseason.