Eric Bieniemy is finalizing a two-year deal to become UCLA’s next associate head coach and offensive coordinator, according to an ESPN report.
It will be the first coaching hire for head football coach DeShaun Foster, who was hired last week, as the university prepares to enter its first season in the Big Ten Conference in 2024.
Bieniemy will take over the playcalling duties as the offensive coordinator after former head coach Chip Kelly, who served as his own offensive playcaller throughout his six-year tenure in Westwood, left to become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Ohio State.
Bieniemy returns to UCLA having previously spent time as the program’s running backs coach (2003-05) and recruiting coordinator (2005).
While his experience as a recruiting coordinator could prove valuable considering the departure of two key pieces on the recruiting staff earlier this week, the college football recruiting scene has changed drastically while Bieniemy was coaching in the NFL.
UCLA’s executive director of recruiting Darren Uscher is expected to leave Westwood and return to Oregon. Uscher was hired in late January just three weeks before Chip Kelly resigned as the Bruins’ head coach.
Ethan Young appears to have been let go from the program after joining the program in 2018 as director of strategic Intelligence before being promoted to director of player personnel in 2019. Young was in charge of running UCLA’s recruiting department.
Bieniemy’s coaching resume could serve as appealing to potential recruits, having won two Super Bowl championships as an offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, working with quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce under head coach Andy Reid.
While he was considered a candidate for head coaching vacancies in the NFL, he never landed a job and eventually left Kansas City after the 2022 season to pursue other opportunities.
The former Bishop Amat High star running back spent the…
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