Eric Washington (American football)

Eric Washington (born October 29, 1969) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive line coach for the Buffalo Bills following experience as the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers and defensive line coach for the Chicago Bears.

Chicago Bears
Washington was an intern for the Chicago Bears in 2005 as part of the Bill Walsh minority coaching fellowship program, but later returned to coach at Northwestern. In 2008, he was hired as a defensive assistant by the Bears. Washington was promoted to defensive line coach in 2010.

Carolina Panthers
Washington was hired by the Carolina Panthers as their defensive line coach in 2011. In January 2018, Washington was promoted to defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers after Steve Wilks was named head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Buffalo Bills
On January 10, 2020, Washington was hired by the Buffalo Bills as their defensive line coach. With this new role, he rejoined former Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, who is now the head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

On March 15, 2022, Washington was promoted by the Buffalo Bills as their senior defensive assistant/defensive line coach.

On June 21, 2023, Washington was promoted by the Buffalo Bills as their assistant head coach/defensive line coach.

Chicago Bears (second stint)
On January 27, 2024, Washington was named the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears.