Former Kansas City Chiefs OC Matt Nagy is quickly running out of options after trying to bet on himself
The Chiefs and Nagy moved on from one another, and now he can’t find a job.
The Kansas City Chiefs have replaced Matt Nagy with former offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. This gives Nagy a chance to pursue a new role leading an offense, either as a head coach or as an offensive coordinator elsewhere.
According to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, this decision was mutual.
“He’ll go out and be able to put his own mark on things, and that takes my name off of it, and he gets the purity of it,” Reid said. “I was hoping it’d be a head coaching position, and it still might be that. He deserves that. If that doesn’t work, it gives him an opportunity to step in as a coordinator and run his show from there. It’s a win-win on both sides for both coaches.”
So far, it hasn’t been a win-win. The Chiefs are winning, and Nagy is not. Teams that interviewed him for head coach have nearly filled their openings. Only the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals are left, and he is not a finalist for either. He now must consider offensive coordinator jobs or lower roles.
Nagy betting on himself could end up bad
At the time of this writing, there are two head coach openings and eight offensive coordinator openings. If he does not get a head-coaching job that allows him to call plays, he may end up in a similar situation to what he was in with KC, but not with the Chiefs. That is worse, as he would no longer have the benefit of working with Patrick Mahomes or under Andy Reid.
There’s also the possibility that Nagy isn’t chosen for many open OC jobs. In that case, he might have to take whatever highest position remains, potentially a passing game coordinator, position coach, or even offensive analyst.
“Before the season even started here, I knew that he wanted an opportunity to have his own show. He’s been a head coach, he was Coach of the Year, this guy – all the things I’ve said about him, I still feel about him,” Reid said. “There’s nothing different there. He deserves to have a head coaching job, and if not, it gives him an opportunity to go out and do his thing… Somebody is missing a gem here, that’s how I feel, and I would love to see him get picked up and going.”
The Chiefs are bringing back Bieniemy to change things up, not because they believe Nagy did anything wrong. Despite fan opinions, Reid believes it’s his offense and calls the plays.
Bieniemy returns, bringing fresh perspectives from his time away while also serving as a new voice of reason. His presence adds a layer of accountability and depth to the offense.
“At the same time, we got back a gem,” Reid said. “It has a chance to be a win-win here whenever everything is set and done.”