UCLA Football: Eric Bieniemy Reveals True Feelings About Return to Bruins
"You can’t pick a better place to be than UCLA."
New UCLA football offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy set the tone with this remark while speaking to the media after spring football practice for the first time since rejoining the Bruins' coaching staff.
Bieniemy returned to the Bruins' coaching staff after almost two decades this offseason under new head coach DeShaun Foster. Bieniemy last worked on the Bruins' staff from 2003-2005, when he was a running backs coach and recruiting coordinator.
Since, Bieniemy has primarily worked in the NFL, most notably serving as an offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs (2018-2022) and Washington Commanders (2023). Bieniemy was the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs when they won two Super Bowls and during both of Patrick Mahomes' MVP-winning seasons.
The Chiefs' offense ranked number one in the NFL with Bieniemy as offensive coordinator three separate times, and the team dropped to their lowest offensive ranking (ninth) since Mahomes took over after Bieniemy left for the Commanders in 2023.
Though returning to the college ranks after working as an NFL offensive coordinator could be viewed as a step-down, Bieniemy could not help but smile when talking about how it felt to return to UCLA.
"It feels pretty damn good," Bieniemy told reporters. "It feels great. It's beautiful, I mean look at this facility, this facility wasn't here ... there's tons of things that have changed. Coach Foster is doing a hell of a job, I'm glad he considered me. It feels good to be back home."
While a lot has changed since Bieniemy was last at UCLA and coaching in college, it appears that Bieniemy is glad to be back with the Bruins. For UCLA, this hiring adds one of the most proven offensive minds in football to their staff and ideally will allow the offense to flourish as they enter the Big Ten, which features some of the better defenses in college football.
