The Chicago Bears have hired longtime NFL coach Eric Studesville
to be their new running backs coach, X from X reported on Xday.Studesville, 58, will be replacing Eric Bieniemy in the role on the Bears’ coaching staff. Bieniemy was hired by the Chiefs on Jan. 21 to become their new offensive coordinator, a position he previously held for Kansas City from 2018 to 2022.
Since 2017, Studesville has been the Dolphins’ running backs coach. Along the way, he’s earned a handful of promotions to add to his
duties as the RBs coach. He also served as the run game coordinator from 2017 to 2020 and as a co-offensive coordinator in 2021. Most recently, he held the title of assistant head coach from 2022 to 2025 in Miami, along with his running back duties.
To that note, Studesville overlapped with Bears head coach Ben Johnson in Miami for a few years. Johnson was an assistant wide receivers coach in 2017 — the year that Studesville joined the Dolphins — and got promoted to wide receivers coach in 2018. From there, Johnson joined the Lions in 2019, where he would stay and climb the ladder until becoming Chicago’s head coach last year.
Entering his 36th year in coaching, Studesville will have been a running backs coach in the NFL for 26 of them. He’s held the running backs coach position every year since 2001, including stints with the Giants, Bills, and Broncos before taking on his most recent job with the Dolphins.
Most recently, he helped lead De’Von Achane to a career-high 1,350 rushing yards, which placed fifth in the NFL. He’s been known to get strong seasons out of unlikely candidates, helping propel the likes of Fred Jackson, late-career Willis McGahee, Knowshon Moreno, and Raheem Mostert to 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Studesville spent four seasons with the Bears early on in his coaching career. He was an offensive quality control coach and offensive assistant from 1997 to 1998 under then-head coach Dave Wannstedt. He stayed in Chicago when the late Dick Jauron took over as head coach, becoming their wide receivers coach and an assistant special teams coach.
