Former Colorado Buffaloes running back Eric Bieniemy has been named the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. Bieniemy rushed for 3,940 yards in his four-year career at Colorado, including 41 touchdowns, and was named an All-American in the Buffs’ 1990 national championship season.
In Kansas City, Bieniemy has spent the past five seasons under head coach Andy Reid as the running backs coach, and earned the promotion after offensive coordinator Matt Nagy was hired by the Chicago Bears to be their next head coach shortly after the Chiefs were eliminated from the postseason last weekend.
Rookie running back Kareem Hunt claimed the league’s rushing title with 1,327 yards this season; the latest in a long line of effective Chiefs runners, including Spencer Ware, Charcandrick West and Jamaal Charles, who spent 2017 with the Broncos but worked under Bieniemy for the four seasons prior to that.
2018 will mark Bieniemy’s 11th season as an NFL coach and sixth with the Chiefs, where Bieniemy made his NFL return after spending two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Colorado during then-head coach Jon Embree’s brief tenure.
Prior to that, Bieniemy spent five seasons as Minnesota’s running backs coach; producing a 1,000-yard runner in each of those seasons.
“I’ve known Eric a long time, both as a player and a coach,” Reid said in a statement released by the team. “He’s done a phenomenal job with our running backs and has been involved in every aspect of our offense over the last five years. He’s a great teacher and has earned this opportunity. I know he will do a good job.”
