Chiefs officially welcome back Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator for 2026
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chiefs officially hire Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator for 2026 season.
- Bieniemy returns to Kansas City after prior OC tenure and stints elsewhere.
- Chiefs must fill running backs coach role while Hunt and Pacheco hit free agency.
All week, signs pointed to Eric Bieniemy returning to the Kansas City Chiefs as offensive coordinator for the 2026 NFL season.
Now, it’s official.
The Chiefs welcomed back Bieniemy on Friday via X and confirmed the news on their official website. Bieniemy spent the 2025 season as the Chicago Bears’ running backs coach.
Bieniemy’s return marks his second tenure in Kansas City. Head coach Andy Reid first hired him as the Chiefs’ running backs coach after Reid’s own hire here in 2013.
Bieniemy, 56, spent five seasons (2013-17) in that role before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2018. He spent another five seasons as OC before moving on to the Washington Commanders in 2023 and UCLA in 2024.
Earlier in the day, the team also posted a farewell to Matt Nagy, who served as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. During this NFL hiring cycle, Nagy has been connected to head coaching vacancies with the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Tennessee Titans and Las Vegas Raiders — and most recently the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive coordinator opening.
Last week, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was asked what he’d like to see in a new offensive coordinator. His answer seemed to hint that he already knew Reid’s plan.
“I just want someone that loves football, that cares about football, wants to give everything they can to win,” Mahomes said. “To hold people accountable and then to bring new ideas every single day. That’s something that we have to continue to do if you want to continue to be great in this league, is you have to continue to evolve and get better and better.
“That’s something that we’ll try to do here, and I want to get back to that winning culture of being accountable to each other and going out there and playing great football every single day, practice or game.”
With Bieniemy coaching running backs D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai in 2025, the Bears averaged 126.5 rushing yards per game, good for fifth best in the NFL. The Chiefs still need to hire a running backs coach to work under Bieniemy, and their top two backs — Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco — are due for unrestricted free agency.
