What does the departure of Eric Bieniemy mean for the Bears' running back room?

Chicago's running backs will certainly miss Eric Bieniemy's presence in the running back room. How much of an impact could it have on next season?

Aug 20, 2021; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) hugs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy during the second half of the game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The Chiefs/Bears pipeline is officially real, and it just got even deeper. Kansas City didn't wait long to vulture the Bears' running back coach. They agreed to a deal to bring Eric Bieniemy back to be their offensive coordinator less than 20 hours after their season ended.

Sources: The #Chiefs plan to hire Eric Bieniemy as their new OC, reuniting him with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. https://t.co/TMOXg22piJ pic.twitter.com/necWHquHVw

— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 19, 2026

Andy Reid sure doesn't like getting out of his comfort zone with his coordinator positions, does he? He previously lured Matt Nagy back to Kansas City after the Bears axed him following a disappointing 2021 season. With Nagy's contract being up and both parties looking to go in separate directions (he has received a handful of head coaching interviews and is a shoo-in to at least become a coordinator elsewhere), he chose to bring back the man who had the same role in KC from 2018 to 2022.

What does the departure mean for the Bears' running back room?

Well, hopefully not much when it comes to on-field play, but it's honestly tough to say.

D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai formed one of the league's best backfield duos this season, but there were a variety of factors that contributed to that. Chicago boasted one of the NFL's best offensive lines and had an elite play-caller and schemer calling the shots in Ben Johnson. As we've seen in Detroit, those two factors alone can contribute to one of the NFL's best rushing attacks.

Luckily, the Bears will be returning at least four starters along the o-line (the only thing preventing them from returning all five is Ozzy Trapilo's status being very much up in the air after suffering a Torn Achilles last week) next season. Ben Johnson is obviously also just getting started.

The Lions' offense ranked 11th, sixth, and fifth in the league in rushing during Johnson's three years running the offense in Detroit. The Bears had the third-ranked rushing attack this season. Meanwhile, Detroit fell all the way to 14th in rushing yards this season. That was despite the fact that they also have one of the league's premier backfield duos in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.

While I certainly think Bieniemy deserves his just due for the Bears rushing success this season, I firmly believe Johnson is the main catalyst to it.

With that said, Swift was noticeably better at getting north and south this season and also did a much better job of finding cut-back lanes. It feels safe to assume that Bieniemy played a role in that regard. He hopefully provided a sufficient amount of lasting advice to Swift, who has always been more reliant on the blocking in front of him than most (due to his previously subpar vision).

Monangai also seemed to have a great relationship with Bieniemy. The rookie gave his now former coach a glowing review in the locker room media session today.

"He helped me to understand what it takes to be a great running back in this league," Monangai said. "The amount of detail, the focus, the preparation, all those things. Just kind of learning from him as someone whose been a former OC and coached great players. Yeah he definitely helped me a lot from OTAs until now."

While the loss of Bieniemy will be a giant blow to the running back room when you consider the fact that they're losing a mentor, I don't think it will have as much of an impact on their performance next season and beyond. I'm personally more worried about the loss of Ozzy Trapilo and how they patch the left tackle position.

I will be a bit more worried if they lose Declan Doyle (I want Caleb Williams to have continuity) and Al Harris (because I think his ability to coach turnovers is REAL). I would also be a bit worried about losing Antwaan Randle El if that were a remote possibility (which it's really not this season due to his assistant head coach title).

The Bears have a legit coaching staff across the board. Bieniemy might be the first domino to fall, but I think it's only a matter of time before more of them get poached.

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