The Bears have found their replacement for Eric Bienemy, their running backs coach in 2025 who returned to Kansas City as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator this offseason. Former Dolphins assistant Eric Studesville will take up the job in 2026, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
Studesville, 58, began his NFL coaching career with the Bears as an offensive quality control coach in 1997. Interestingly, that followed a college career in which he played and coached on the defensive side of the ball. He then served as the wide receivers coach/assistant special teams coach in 1999 and 2000 before he was hired by the Giants to be their running backs coach. He spent three years in New York before taking the same job with the Bills (2004-2009), Broncos (2010-2016), and Dolphins (2017-2025).
In Miami, he also held the titles of run game coordinator (2017-2020), co-offensive coordinator (2021), and associate head coach (2022-2025). He also overlapped with then-Dolphins WRs coach Ben Johnson for two years and will now fill a key role on his staff in Chicago.
Studeville has developed notable star running backs in his career, including De’Von Achane, Tiki Barber, Fred Jackson, Willis McGahee, C.J. Anderson, and Knowshon Moreno. He will now work with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, who were an effective one-two punch in 2025.