It wasn’t a hard sell for Eric Studesville.

For the first time in nine years this winter, Studesville was a coaching free agent. New Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley decided not to bring him back after Studesville had survived three coaching changes. Studesville had been a running backs coach in the NFL since 2001 and had spoken with teams about various opportunities.

But the Chicago Bears’ running backs coach opening stood out. The unit had one of the NFL’s best transformations last season under former running backs coach Eric Bieniemy. Chicago went from one of the worst rushing teams to one of the best in a year.

It didn’t hurt that Bears head coach Ben Johnson showed a dedication to running the ball throughout the team’s run to the NFC Divisional Playoff last year. Chicago became the obvious destination for Studesville.

“[Johnson] has a commitment to the run game,” Studesville said. “As a running backs coach, that’s an easy thing to sell in your room.”

Studesville himself was an easy sell to Johnson. The two spent time together in Miami when Johnson was a tight ends coach there. There, Studesville continued a reputation as one of the better running backs coaches in the NFL.

Miami had a top-15 running game two of the past three seasons. The Dolphins finished 13th in rushing yards per game last season (120.2) despite a 7-10 record and placed sixth in 2023 (135.8). Dolphins running back De’Von Achane finished fifth in the NFL and ran for a career-high 1,350 yards last season.

The Dolphins were his fourth stop since he started his NFL career with the Bears in 1997 as an offensive assistant before becoming the team’s wide receiver coach. He spent time as the running backs coach with the New York Giants, Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos, winning a Super Bowl with Denver in 2015.

“He’s been around the block a few times,” Johnson said in February. “He’s been a part of really good rushing offenses in the past, and I know he’s going to bring a great flavor for us. ”

Studesville also seemed to share the same vision for the running back room as Johnson.

The Bears started the march back to the playoffs last season once the running game got going. Not only did the backs put up big numbers running the ball for most of the season, but they also made an impact in the passing game – either as pass-catchers or pass-blockers.

It’s a change that Johnson brought with him during his first season last year and one that Studesville plans to continue.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes to contribute to winning,” Studesville said. “And if that’s running the ball, and there’s games we’re going to have to do that, then we’ve got to do that effectively in our room. If there’s games where we got to throw it and we got to protect and catch it and make people miss and do things in the pass game.”

Studesville wasn’t worried about the group’s transition from Bieniemy, who left this offseason to become the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, to himself. Bieniemy was known for a loud personality and hard coaching, which brought out the best in the group last season.

The two are actually very close friends, but Studesville wants to put his own twist on the unit rather than fitting a mold.

“I think I’m just myself,” Studesville said. “I go in there, I have a philosophy of how I like to do things, of how I see things. I have to obviously tailor that to Ben and [offensive coordinator] Press [Taylor], and what this offense requires and what they want me to do. ... We talk through those things, and then the things that are the foundations and fundamentals of this offense, we’re going to continue to do those things, and we’re going to build on all the little things.”

Studesville will have a solid two-headed monster in D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai to help reach that goal.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles decided not to change the running back room much after Chicago finished third in the NFL, averaging 144.5 rushing yards per game. Poles didn’t make a major addition in free agency or the draft, instead running it back with Swift, who has one year left on his contract, and Monangai.

Swift had a career year last season. He rushed for season bests with 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns. Swift also made an impact in the passing game, catching 34 passes for 299 yards and a touchdown.

Studesville hasn’t had much interaction with Swift since their time together at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2020. But Swift impressed Studesville with his play from last season and the professionalism he’s shown this offseason.

“I think he’s really, really talented,” Studesville said. “You watch him on the field, watch him move, changing direction, burst, accelerations, particularly for this time of year. But you just see the skill set, and you see why he’s had success in this league and why he’s been so productive.”

Monanagi also impressed Studesville in his rookie season. He rushed for 783 yards and five touchdowns after Poles selected him in the seventh round last year.

“He’s been around the block a few times. He’s been a part of really good rushing offenses in the past and I know he’s going to bring a great flavor for us. ”

—  Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears head coach

Studesville wasn’t surprised to see Monangai succeed with his hard-nosed running. He had spent time with Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, who coached Monangai in college, and knew that’s what Monangai would bring to the NFL.

Studesville looks forward to seeing continued growth from Monangai and the entire running back room as offseason workouts progress in the coming weeks.

“Continued development, I think for all of them,” Studesville said. “We’re going to talk about continually pushing to improve all the time. Each individual collectively, as a group, me as a coach. How can we continually get better every day to be able to put ourselves in position to help us win? I don’t think that journey ever is changing or gets halted until we say we’re done doing this.”