UCLA move on from OC Bieniemy
Blame it on the scoring. Or the lack thereof. The UCLA football team struggled all season to put points on the scoreboard. Playing in the Big Ten Conference for the first time, the Bruins needed help keeping up with the other conference teams in terms of scoring.
That assistance never came. As a result, head coach DeShaun Foster and UCLA finished at the №15 position with a 3–6 conference record and an overall mark of 5–7. The first major casualty of the Bruins’ flailed season in Year 1 of the Foster experiment was offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
UCLA confirmed by email to News4usonline.com that Bieniemy is “no longer with the program.” This is a disappointment on a lot of fronts for both Bieniemy and the UCLA football program.
UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster and the Bruins have parted ways with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Photo credit: Carlos Jones/News4usonline
With Chip Kelly leaving the UCLA cupboard bare and disseminating the program, the Bruins brought in Foster, a former running back at the university, to bring a fresh face and attitude to Westwood.
One of Foster’s top-selected generals to revitalize the program was Bieniemy, who brought his NFL pedigree to the program. After a long stint under Andy Reid as offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs before taking the same role with the Washington Commanders, Bieniemy was highly sought after as an offensive mind.
The vision of having a top offensive unit never worked out in the one season that Bieniemy served as offensive coordinator for the Bruins. Bieniemy’s one-and-done season was a one-year disaster.
Through the team’s first six games of the 2024 college football season, UCLA’s offense could not score more than 17 points. After beating Hawai’i in the first game of the season, the Bruins then proceeded to lose their next five games before securing their first win against Rutgers.
Adding insult to injury, the Bruins scored 13 points in a 19–13 defeat to crosstown rival USC on their home turf at the Rose Bowl Stadium. That loss to the Trojans probably didn’t sit too well with alumni and program donors.
For the season, UCLA’s offense ranked №117 nationally in total offense and wrapped up the year at №126 in scoring offense.
Top image caption: PASADENA, CA — SEPTEMBER 14: UCLA Bruins assistant coach Eric Bieniemy takes the field during the college football game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the UCLA Bruins on September 14, 2024, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. (Photo by Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire)