The Chicago Bears lost running backs coach Eric Bieniemy this offseason, with the coach returning to an offensive coordinator role with the Kansas City Chiefs. It is an understandable decision for the Chiefs, but a tough pill to swallow for a Chicago team coming off a dominating season rushing the football. Bieniemy's presence not only helped inspire a great season from D'Andre Swift but also set up the breakout of rookie playmaker Kyle Manangai. While first glance might tell you that losing Bieniemy is a net negative, it has to be noted that for Monangai, it could be setting the back up for a larger 2026 opportunity.
To understand this, we must turn back the clock to Bieniemy's time with the Chiefs during the 2022 season. Isiah Pacheco was a rookie as a 7th round selection and followed a similar path to Monangai, enjoying a surprise breakout season. However, with Bieniemy as the OC, his touches were capped at 183 before the offensive coordinator's exit set up a career-high 249 touches the following year. While Pacheco only registered 95 and 137 touches over the next two seasons, this was due to injury and declining performance, not coaching decisions.
With this in mind, Pacheco provides a clear roadmap that suggests Monangai is being set up for a much bigger role in 2026. The rookie was limited to 187 touches this past season due to a slow start to the 2025 campaign and, perhaps more importantly, the presence of Swift. Now, with the fan base clearly behind the talented playmaker and Bieniemy walking away, it seems that fans should expect Monangai's chances in the Chicago lineup to take a huge leap next season.
Kyle Monangai Has Clear Path to Larger Role in Bears' 2026 Offense
This isn't to lessen the positive impact that Bieniemy has had or take away from the loss that has been dealt to the Chicago coaching staff. Rather, it is to point out what is perhaps the only bright side of this scenario, the expectation that the coach's departure sets the table for Monangai to take on an even larger role within Chicago's offense. The back's punishing style is going to continue to make him a popular figure for the Bears, and demand increased touches at the start of the new season.
Perhaps the only caveat to this is that Swift did have a great season of his own and is under contract. Barring a surprise trade, Monangai will need to make the most of his opportunities to force his way into the lineup and become an even more important piece of Chicago's offense.
For Bieniemy, returning to Kansas City as its next offensive coordinator is undoubtedly a great opportunity. This is only reinforced by the fact that Bieniemy spent the last three years bouncing around the league. The loss to Ben Johnson's staff is frustrating, but an inevitable part of the Bears' emergence as they continue to cement themselves as one of the NFC's premier contenders.