Ben Johnson's latest coaching hire gives the Bears another connection to the team's top free agent target
Over the weekend, Ben Johnson made another fantastic hire to his first ever coaching staff with the Chicago Bears by naming Eric Bieniemy as the team's new running backs coach.It's a position group Bieniemy has a lot of experience leading and a position he knows well going back to his playing days in the NFL […]
Over the weekend, Ben Johnson made another fantastic hire to his first ever coaching staff with the Chicago Bears by naming Eric Bieniemy as the team's new running backs coach.
It's a position group Bieniemy has a lot of experience leading and a position he knows well going back to his playing days in the NFL as a running back.
He also brings a lot of necessary offensive experience to the young staff after previous serving as the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator in 2023 and the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator from 2018-2022.
There's a lot to like about this hire given Bieniemy's prior coaching success. In the backfield, Bieniemy has worked with really solid backs such as Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles, Kareem Hunt, and Isiah Pacheco.
Bieniemy will do a lot of good working with D'Andre Swift and the rest of the Bears' backfield, but he also brings another connection to the team that could help Chicago land their prized fish in free agency.
Eric Bieniemy's History Could Bring Trey Smith To Chicago
This might be reading too much into it, but the connection still needs to be mentioned. It's no secret that the Bears are high on Chiefs' right guard Trey Smith and are willing to break the bank to acquire him if he hits the open market.
Smith was drafted by the Chiefs in 2021 when Bears' general manager Ryan Poles served as the executive director of player personnel in Kansas City. Smith then played two seasons under Bieniemy as his offensive coordinator and the two were close.
“He’d been following my career from an early time. One of the coaches at Tennessee, they knew each other way back in the day,” Smith said in 2023 via KSN. “From day one, EB sort of encouraged me. Like, ‘you have a bright future, man. You just got to keep working.’ Then from there, obviously as practice rolled on, I might have a hiccup here or miss here, he’s going to get on me, but then he talks to me about, ‘OK, this is why I’m getting on. I want you to be the best. I want you to be a great player, you know? So my relationship with EB was always great. He’s very demanding as a coach because he knows and believes in us as young men, as young players. He knows how well we can be."
As a sixth-round pick, it's clear Bieniemy saw something special in Smith and wanted to bring that out of his game. Flash forward to now, Smith's one of the top guards in the game and could be in line for a record-setting deal.
As Smith started to grow and develop in Kansas City, Bieniemy got even more excited for his young offensive lineman.
“I just think that Trey has done a heck of a job,” Bieniemy said in 2022 via Charles Goldman. “He plays hard and he’s always looking to find work. When you’re putting that stuff on tape, it’s making those other guys on the other side of the ball be very aware and making sure that they’re staying on their toes.”
Bieniemy and Poles aren't the only two people in Chicago with connections to Smith. While at Tennessee, Smith lined up next to Bears' right tackle Darnell Wright during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In 2020, Smith and Wright combined to allow just two sacks.
The connections are all over the place for the Bears to try and reel Smith in, but that's only if the Chiefs decide to let him walk after the season ends.
Replacing Chicago Bears’ top pending 2025 free agents with standout NFL draft prospects from the Senior Bowl
Early scouting could prove to be fruitful.
