The Chiefs have agreed to terms with Eric Bieniemy as their offensive coordinator, making his hire official Wednesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.
A report two days ago indicated the Chiefs planned to hire Bieniemy.
Matt Nagy began his second stint with the Chiefs when Bieniemy left the team before the 2023 season, but Nagy has an expiring contract. He has interviewed for several head coaching jobs.
Bieniemy was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator from 2018-22 before leaving to call plays for the Commanders. He was UCLA’s offensive coordinator in 2024 before coaching the Bears’ running backs in 2025.
In Bieniemy’s previous five years with the Chiefs, the Chiefs finished no lower than sixth in points per game.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, though, will continue as the team’s play caller.
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With Eric Bieniemy expected to return to Kansas City as offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy is on the way out.
While at present it doesn’t look like a head coaching job is going to materialize for Nagy, he’s a candidate for a prominent offensive coordinator role.
Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Nagy interviewed for the Eagles offensive coordinator vacancy on Wednesday.
Nagy, 47, got his start in the league with the Eagles under former head coach Andy Reid in 2008. He stayed with the franchise through 2012, ending his tenure as an offense quality control coach before becoming Kansas City’s QBs coach under Reid in 2013.
After going 34-33 as Bears head coach from 2018-2021, Nagy returned to the Chiefs in 2022 as senior assistant and quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to offensive coordinator when Bieniemy left the franchise after winning Super Bowl LVII.
Nagy was considered a frontrunner to land the Titans’ job, but that went to Robert Saleh this week. Nagy also interviewed with the Raiders, Cardinals, and Ravens in this coaching cycle.
While the Chiefs have not yet made the move official, Eric Bieniemy is expected to return to the franchise as the club’s offensive coordinator — the position he held from 2018-2022.
Tight end Travis Kelce said on the latest episode of his New Heights podcast that he’s excited about the reunion.
“I can’t wait to see him back in the building, man,” Kelce said, via Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star. “He’s one of my favorite coaches of all-time, one of my favorite people of all time. I’ve had so many unbelievable, growing moments under him as a player, as a person, and I just love the guy, and it’s gonna be awesome to see him back in the building and see him back wearing the Chiefs logo, baby.”
Since departing the Chiefs following their victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl LVII, Bieniemy served as Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2023 before spending a season with UCLA as the club’s offensive coordinator.
He was the Bears running backs coach in 2025, helping the club win the NFC North in Ben Johnson’s first year as head coach.
“I think it’s a marriage that’s gonna pick up right where it left off,” Kelce said “E.B., he and who he is as a coach, you can see kind of his personality, what he brings to the table in that Chicago team. I know Ben Johnson has his own version of that. He’s a very tough guy. And what he did in Detroit, he brought over as well.”
While Kelce, 36, has reached the age where retirement is going to be a discussion every offseason, saying he’s looking forward to seeing Bieniemy in the building may be a hint that the tight end plans to return for another ride in 2026.
Patrick Mahomes won his two MVP awards with Bieniemy as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator in 2018 and 2022.
The Titans have completed in-person interviews with 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, the team announced Monday.
Nagy previously interviewed virtually with team officials.
It was Saleh’s first interview with the Titans. Saleh was initially scheduled for a virtual interview on Sunday, but the 49ers’ loss to the Seahawks on Saturday allowed him to interview in person.
The Titans interviewed 15 candidates during the first two weeks of their coaching search.
Nagy has spent the past nine seasons with the Chiefs. He was promoted to offensive coordinator after rejoining Kansas City in 2022 as senior offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach.
Nagy previously spent four years as head coach for the Bears (2018-21).
Saleh has spent 21 seasons in the NFL and is in his second stint as defensive coordinator with the 49ers. Before returning to San Francisco, Saleh spent three-plus seasons (2021-24) as head coach of the Jets, where he was 20-36.
His first stint as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator was from 2017-20.
The Chiefs are set to make a change at offensive coordinator, but it won’t be a major shock to the system in Kansas City.
According to multiple reports, they plan to hire Eric Bieniemy as their offensive coordinator. Word of their interest in interviewing Bieniemy, who is currently the Bears’ running backs coach, first surfaced on Monday morning.
Bieniemy was the team’s offensive coordinator from 2018-2022 and left to call the offensive plays for the Commanders in 2023. Matt Nagy began his second stint in the role when Bieniemy left the team, but has an expiring contract and is a finalist for the Titans’ head coaching job.
Bieniemy’s stint in Washington ended after one season and he spent 2024 at UCLA before joining the Bears’ staff.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Chiefs are also hiring Chad O’Shea as their wide receivers coach. O’Shea was on the Browns’ staff since 2020 and replaces the fired Connor Embree.
The Chiefs may be bringing a familiar face back to Andy Reid’s coaching staff.
According to multiple reports, they have requested permission to interview Bears running backs coach Eric Bieniemy. Bieniemy was the offensive coordinator in Kansas City from 2018-2022 and those reports say the request is for an interview for that role.
Matt Nagy closed out the 2025 season as the offensive coordinator with the Chiefs, but he has an expiring contract and is seen as a top candidate to land the head coaching job in Tennessee.
Bieniemy got a number of head coaching interviews during his time with the Chiefs, but wound up making a lateral move to be the coordinator for the Commanders. While that afforded him an opportunity to call plays, the Commanders went 4-13 and he was dismissed along with head coach Ron Rivera at the end of the season. He spent a year at UCLA before joining the Bears’ staff for the 2025 campaign.
When the Chiefs missed the playoffs this season, there was a lot of talk about the chance for a changing of the guard in the AFC.
There’s still more to play out in the conference, but meeting the new boss is looking a lot like the old boss in one respect. The Patriots are back in the title game after beating the Texans on Sunday and that continues a long run that’s seen either New England or Kansas City involved in deciding the AFC champion.
Next Sunday’s game in Denver will be the 15th straight conference title game involving either the Patriots or the Chiefs. The Patriots made it after the 2011-2018 seasons and beat the Chiefs in their final appearance. Patrick Mahomes would lead the Chiefs to a win the next year and they would make six more appearances before things went south for them this year.
Those Patriot teams were quarterbacked by Tom Brady rather than Drake Maye, but the 2024 first-round pick’s rapid rise to MVP contention has raised hopes that another prolonged run of success is already underway in New England.
49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and the Titans have made a date for Monday.
According to multiple reports, the Titans will have an in-person interview with Saleh. He had been scheduled for a virtual interview with the team on Sunday.
Saleh’s season ended with Saturday night’s loss to the Seahawks. The former Jets head coach returned for his second stint running the 49ers defense this season.
The Titans are also set to hold second, in-person interviews with Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley over the next couple of days. The move to meet Saleh face-to-face and the timing of the other interviews would suggest that the Titans are closing in on their choice for a head coach.
The Titans’ second round of interviews will include another meeting with Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that they have scheduled a second interview with Nagy. Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is also moving on to the next stage of the coaching search in Tennessee.
Nagy worked for the Chiefs from 2013-2017 before leaving to become the Bears’ head coach. He started his second stint with the Chiefs in 2022 and Titans General Manager Mike Borgonzi was in the Kansas City organization for all but the 2025 season, so there’s a long relationship between the men.
The Titans are scheduled to interview 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh on Sunday and he could be added to the second round of meetings if all goes well.
Nothing about the Chiefs’ 2025 season seemed to go right, particularly with quarterback Patrick Mahomes tearing his ACL in December.
But with the club out of the postseason for the first time since 2014 — let alone the first time in the Mahomes era — Kansas City will have a chance to reset in some different ways this offseason.
One of those factors appears likely to be the team’s offensive coordinator. Matt Nagy, who has held the role since 2023, is a popular choice on the head coach interview circuit in this cycle. But even if Nagy doesn’t land a top job, he is reportedly looking at becoming a play-calling offensive coordinator for another team.
With that, the Chiefs could bring back current Bears running backs coach Eric Bieniemy or someone else to infuse the club with something new on offense.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mahomes said he’s hoping Nagy gets another chance to be a head coach, as he’s done a lot of great things to help him in his career. But there are some traits he’d like in Kansas City’s next OC.
“Obviously, there’s names out there, but with how many vacancies there are at the head coaching job, you have to let that all play out to see how you build the staff,” Mahomes said. “I know coach Reid — if ‘Nags’ is able to get another head coaching job, that he’ll have a good plan of who he wants to bring in.
“But for me, I just want someone that loves football, that cares about football, wants to give everything they can to win, to hold people accountable, and then to bring new ideas every single day,” Mahomes continued. “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 and 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.”
It stands to reason that Mahomes — who also mentioned that he’s targeting a Week 1 return to play — will have some input on who the next offensive coordinator might be. With several offensive assistants departing the franchise for one reason or another this offseason, we’ll see how Kansas City’s staff turns out and how that affects the club’s offense in 2026.
