LOS ANGELES -- In what has been a long string of events over the last week for UCLA football, the woes will continue as the team is parting ways with Eric Bieniemy and has reportedly hired former Indiana co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri to become their new offensive coordinator.
The news that Bieniemy and UCLA were parting ways was first reported by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. Zach Osterman of the Indiana Star later reported that Sunseri would be taking over.
UCLA is making a change at offensive coordinator. Eric Bieniemy is out, sources tell @YahooSports. Bruins finished 117th in total offense this season.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) December 5, 2024
Breaking: Source tells IndyStar that Tino Sunseri, IU's QBs coach/co-OC, will leave Indiana for the open offensive coordinator job at UCLA at the end of season. Sunseri will remain with the Hoosiers through the Playoff. #iufb
— Zach Osterman (@ZachOsterman) December 5, 2024
Sunseri was part of a coaching staff that left with Curt Cignetti and a group of coaches that left James Madison for Indiana last offseason.
Sunseri shared coordinator duties alongside Mike Shanahan.
Indiana has been one of the biggest surprises to come out of College Football finishing ranked as a top ten team in the nation with an 11-1 record.
The Hoosiers were ranked as a top 24 offense across college football averaging 439 yards per game. They were also ranked as the number two scoring offense, averaging 43.3 points per game, just behind Miami.
Bieniemy was once considered a top head coaching candidate across the NFL following two Super Bowl victories with the Kansas City Chiefs as an offensive coordinator. He will now be looking for his third coaching job over the last three years.
Before his time on the Chiefs, Bieniemy was once considered a top running back in College Football when he played at Colorado. Bieniemy would return to the Buffalos following a nine-year NFL career.
In 2001, Bieniemy was hired as their running backs coach. The next year, he would leave Colorado and coach at UCLA for the next three years as a running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. He would then leave for the NFL and become the Vikings running backs coach.
The decision to part ways with Bieniemy comes after the first season of Deshaun Foster's first season as the head coach at UCLA. In Feb. Bieniemy and the school came to terms on a two-year deal to serve as the offensive coordinator under Foster.
In their first season in the Foster era, UCLA went 5-7 and 3-6 in the school's inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference. The offense ranked amongst the worst in College Football. Scoring just 21 touchdowns and putting up 3927 yards. They ranked just ahead of Purdue, Michigan, and Northwestern in the Big Ten.
The season before, UCLA's offense averaged 26 points per game. This season, they regressed down to 18 points per game.
To make matters worse, quarterback Ethan Garbers who just played his final season at UCLA went from having a glimpse of hope for the program in his junior year to a disaster in his senior season.
After starting in six games in his junior year, he had 11 touchdown passes and three interceptions. In his senior year, he was the starter for all 12 games of the Bruins season. He had 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Garbers wasn't the only member of the offense to have a down year. Wide receiver Logan Loya had 59 receptions for 655 yards his junior year. His senior year had 29 receptions for 38 yards.
On Wednesday, Loya announced that he would be one of eight other players from the Bruins roster to enter the transfer portal.
Some notable names that have entered the portal alongside Loya include last season's leading rusher TJ Harden and Justyn Martin who would've likely been the starting quarterback for next season.
The Bruins roster also took a hit on Wednesday's National Signing Day when four-star quarterback and wide receiver Madden Iamaleava and Jace Brown announced they were flipping their commitment from UCLA to Arkansas. UCLA also lost defensive end Epi Sitanilei on signing day as he flipped to Ohio State.
With Bieniemy no longer in charge of the offense, Foster will now have to find a new offensive coordinator and a new starting quarterback to fit his system going into his second season as coach of the Bruins.
