Eric Bieniemy is already proving to be the shot in the arm the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense needs — and it’s only Day 1
Eric Bieniemy is back and he’s ready to find solutions after a disappointing season for the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense.
Wednesday, January 28, 2026 marked Eric Bieniemy’s first day back as offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s something he didn’t necessarily imagine for himself, and that he says came together rather quickly.
“It was real, real tough making this decision,” Bieniemy told reporters. “But it was an opportunity to come home… If Big Red ever picks up the phone, that’s the only person that you’ll say, ‘Hey, you know what? It may be time to return home.’ Because he’s given me this opportunity… But, more than anything, I’m fired up about this opportunity. I’m looking forward to it. It’s time to get back in the saddle.”
Bieniemy returns to Kansas City, where he spent the 2013 through 2022 NFL seasons after three years away. In 2023, he was with the Washington Commanders as assistant head coach & offensive coordinator. In 2024, Bieniemy held the same title and role for the UCLA Bruins. This past year, he settled in as Ben Johnson’s RBs coach with the Chicago Bears, making a run in the playoffs to the NFC’s Divisional Round that ended in heartbreak.
He says he’s learned many important lessons while away, but he also hasn’t lost his edge as a coach.
“Well, I’ll say this,” Bieniemy said. “There’s some things about me that have changed, but more than anything, EB is EB. We will still be disciplined and detailed in everything and how we handle our business. There’s a standard of performance. There’s a standard of excellence that’ll be expected. But on top of that, there’s been a great deal of wealth that I’ve learned, you know, through the good and through the bad, and the thing that I appreciate has just helped me to grow into this role and have this opportunity to be in this situation again.”
He’ll rejoin Kansas City as the team seeks to bounce back after a disappointing 6-11 season, which saw it miss the playoffs for the first time since Bieniemy’s second year with the Chiefs in 2014. His task? To help fix an offense that was far too inconsistent during the 2025 NFL season.
How Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy aims to fix issues on the offensive side of the ball
Since it was only Bieniemy’s first day back in the office, he hadn’t yet had a chance to dive into the 2025 Chiefs film and truly assess what went wrong.
“You know, what? I really haven’t had an opportunity to dig in and really study it like I want to,” Bieniemy said. “Every now and then, I would pick up, you know, a few ideas, or a few plays here and there, but I really haven’t had a chance to dig in like I want to. I’m going to spend this time doing that during this period, just to figure out the good, the bad, the ugly, and the indifferent. But I’m excited about the opportunity. Obviously, looking forward to getting back to work with some of these guys, and ideally just getting re-acclimated with the staff.”
Asked about his comfort level in pointing out the flaws and issues that plagued Andy Reid and Matt Nagy’s offense during the 2025 NFL season, Bieniemy made it clear that he won’t be holding anything back.
“Well, I mean, that’s why we get paid,” Bieniemy said. “We’re coaches, right? It’s our job to come up with answers, so we’ve got to make sure that we can give solutions to the answers and making sure that we resolve it. We got a great coaching staff. Got great people. I feel like I’m back in with family, you know, and so we all are very familiar with each other. So, we’ll sit down and figure everything out together.”
Accountability has been a big buzzword in Chiefs Kingdom as of late, but that right there is what it truly looks like and why there’s such excitement in the building for Bieniemy’s return. As Andy Reid says, Bieniemy is not going to sugarcoat anything. That’s just not who he is. He’s very direct with players and coaches in that he’s going to tell it like it is.
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