Bears finally land their solution to Eric Bieniemy's departure with home run hire

When the Chicago Bears lost running backs coach Eric Bieniemy to the Kansas City Chiefs, The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs named Eric Studesville as a notable candidate to replace him.

It turns out Biggs was right on the money: he reported that the Bears did indeed hire Studesville as the new running backs coach in Chicago. Studesville's prior relationship with Bears head coach Ben Johnson helped, as the two worked together with the Miami Dolphins for two seasons.

Among NFL circles, Studesville is a well-respected name who has coached running backs and offense in general in the league since 1997. He started his NFL coaching career with the Bears that year as the offensive quality control coach and offensive assistant, and then was the wide receivers coach and assistant special teams coach in 1999 and 2000 before departing the Bears. Studesville had been with the Dolphins since 2017.

Bears got a great hire in Eric Studesville

Chicago has a good one in Studesville, as he has coached so many great running backs over the last two decades. In fact, he has had seven running backs he's coached go over 1,000 yards in a season:

Tiki Barber
Willis McGahee
Marshawn Lynch
Fred Johnson
Knowshon Moreno
Raheem Mostert
De'Von Achane

Studesville knows what a successful backfield is and has been on winning teams in his career. He helped the Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50 against the Carolina Panthers.

Now he will coach D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, who combined for 1,870 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. The Bears were in the top five in rushing last year as a team, thanks to a much-improved offensive line and the duo in the backfield getting the job done.

Studesville will be tasked with getting Monangai to the next level and, if Swift is still on the team, keeping him consistent with his carries. This is a Bears team that has lost some good coaches, but Studesville is a prime example that the perfect replacement is out there.