After having great success with the Kansas City Chiefs as Andy Reid’s offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy seemingly became a hot commodity in the NFL as someone who could become one of the next great head coaches.

Bieniemy’s name was mentioned many times over the last few years as a head coaching candidate around the NFL, but he was never able to land the right opportunity and had to settle for another gig as an offensive coordinator with the Washington Commanders.

Although Bieniemy’s title with the Commanders was a bit different as he was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, it didn’t result in a head coaching job, as he actually went back down to the college ranks after last season in the nation’s capital.

Unexpectedly, Bieniemy chose to take the job as the offensive coordinator of the UCLA Bruins under head coach DeShaun Foster, who wanted to bring in someone of his caliber who could provide the right kind of discipline for his players, as he told Rich Eisen on “The Rich Eisen Show.”

“I wanted a real presence as my offensive coordinator,” Foster said. “Somebody that can command and really demand the kind of discipline I want out of our players.”

“I wanted a real presence as my offensive coordinator.”@UCLAFootball head coach @DeShaunFoster26 told us why he reached out to Eric Bieniemy and what he’s expecting joining the Big 10:#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/susRYbAazu

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) May 8, 2024

Although this seems like a massive demotion going back down to the college ranks before getting a gig as a head coach in the NFL, Bieniemy might be better suited for this role in today’s game, as NFL players might not react the same way to his coaching style.

It’ll be interesting to see if Bieniemy has some success at UCLA under Foster and whether that results in another opportunity on the NFL level.

The post UCLA Head Coach Reveals Why He Hired Eric Bieniemy appeared first on The Cold Wire.