Eric Bieniemy is back in the Chiefs’ facility, and the habitual turns of phrases are back along with him. The “grind,” as he says. The “chopping wood.” The “good, the bad, the ugly and the indifferent.”
E.B., as even he put it in his introduction to Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon, is still E.B.
Or his re-introduction to Kansas City.
He’s familiar, a known commodity inside a building he called home for a decade. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid prioritized that familiarity when looking for an offensive coordinator to replace Matt Nagy. He wanted someone who knew the place and, more importantly to him, knew his offense.
That priority — comfort — has been the focus of some analysis, including my own, of what might (or might not) change in the offense.
But Bieniemy still technically arrives as the outside hire after one-year stops at Washington, UCLA and Chicago. That probably seems like semantics, given the fact that a decade-long run in Kansas City preceded those three stops, but it’s an important distinction. Or at least it could be.
Two days after Reid seemed to have more praise than critique for an offense that sputtered in big moments throughout the recently concluded season, Bieniemy walked into the team’s Kansas City facility prepared to dig into the particulars of the 2025 Chiefs.
Here’s the distinction from the man who re-hired him: Bieniemy won’t be grading his own work. The Chiefs will receive a perspective absent the natural bias that comes with evaluating yourself. And that perspective will come from someone who’s never had much of a problem making his voice heard, even if it means ruffling a few feathers.
Isn’t that part of what they need?
“He’s going to be very direct with players,” Reid said Monday, two days before Bieniemy drove into town.
And then he added the part we all seemed to miss: “Very direct with coaches.”
For all the attention on the quote-unquote accountability Bieniemy will demand of players, that comes later this spring.
The unreserved feedback on the offense comes first.
I’ve questioned, even doubted, how much of the scheme will truly change with Bieniemy hired as offensive coordinator. It’s a reminder this is still Reid’s offense — always has been and always will be.
