The Kansas City Chiefs lost a key member of their coaching staff earlier this month when offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy left for the same position with the Washington Commanders.

Bieniemy left Kansas City so he could avoid becoming complacent after being in one organization for 10 seasons. The former Colorado standout could also improve his chances of becoming a head coach in the NFL if he's successful away from Andy Reid.

The Chiefs promoted quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy to offensive coordinator to replace Bieniemy.

Nagy was previously the offensive coordinator in Kansas City from 2016 to 2017 before serving as the Chicago Bears head coach from 2018 to 2021.

While it makes sense for Nagy to return to his previous position in Kansas City, that wasn't initially the plan for the Chiefs.

According to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, another coach was supposed to be Kansas City's offensive coordinator in 2023.

But the timing didn't work out.

Breer noted on Monday that Reid's plan was for Mike Kafka to take over as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator if/when Bieniemy departed Kansas City.

Kafka was the Chiefs' quarterbacks coach from 2018 to 2021 (he was also the passing game coordinator for his final two seasons in KC and he was a quality control coach for the Chiefs in 2017).

After several seasons in Kansas City, Kafka left to become the New York Giants offensive coordinator in 2022.

From Sports Illustrated:

The plan was for Mike Kafka, drafted by Reid as a quarterback in Philly in 2010, to be next to replace Bieniemy. The timing simply didn’t work on that one—Bieniemy didn’t land a job as fast, the Chiefs could only hold on to Kafka for so long (they promoted him to pass-game coordinator in ’20), and wound up losing him in January ’22. So when Kafka bolted, Reid swooped in to get Nagy back—after the Bears fired him—and that positioned Nagy to replace Bieniemy when Bieniemy left for Washington a week ago. Kafka, by the way, did well enough in his first year with the Giants to land three head-coach interviews in January (he became a finalist for two of those jobs).

Breer also pointed out that Nagy is viewed as a "potential successor" to Reid in Kansas City.

Chiefs fans may not love that idea after his lackluster run as the Bears' head coach. Though it's important to remember that Kansas City is set up better for success than the Bears were during Nagy's time there. So it's certainly possible that Nagy could just pick up where Reid leaves off in Kansas City.

Of course, it's not like Reid is planning on going anywhere right now. He made it quite clear after winning his second Super Bowl earlier this month that's just as happy as he's ever been as a head coach in the NFL.

And by the way, NFL "succession plans" rarely come to fruition. So I wouldn't bet too much cash on Nagy being the Chiefs' next head coach.

Featured image via Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports