UCLA fired offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on Thursday, but there's something else going on in his camp.
ESPN and Yahoo Sports first reported UCLA fired Bieniemy, but his agent, Jason Fletcher, denied the breakup was anything other than mutual.
“Eric and UCLA have mutually bid farewell today, as originally planned,” Fletcher said in a statement. “He's still getting paid by the manager. After interviewing for the head coaching job last year, he wanted to stay active and busy. So instead of sitting out a year, he decided to give his younger brother He decided to help Deshaun Foster like him at UCLA.
“The plan was always to return to the NFL in 2025, and he is looking forward to the opportunities ahead.”
ESPN also reported that offensive line coach Juan Castillo will also be fired.
The statement that this is mutual is very interesting considering he reportedly bought out his contract for $1.2 million.
Bieniemy, a former NFL running back like Foster, was UCLA's recruiting coordinator from 2003 to 2005 and was credited with discovering future NFL heavyweight Maurice Jones-Drew.
Foster and UCLA expected Bieniemy to use his NFL experience as offensive coordinator on a Super Bowl-winning team to help develop the side and bring in highly-touted recruits.
No matter how much his Agent Slice wanted it, the results were dire.
The Bruins rank 126th in the nation in points per game. 247 Sports evaluates the recruiting class It ranked 50th in the nation, behind Houston, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
His recruiting ranking was 90th in 2024 and 37th in 2023.
The Bruins are now 5-7 after going 8-4 and 9-3 two years ago.
Bieniemy previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders, but was fired after one season.
Although he served as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator from 2018 to 2022, Patrick Mahomes' development was largely due to his chances as a head coach, even though he led Kansas City's offense under the tutelage of Andy Reid. has not been obtained yet.
