Eric Bieniemy, Kliff Kingsbury and the future of the Kansas City Chiefs offense

As often as offensive coordinators leave the Kansas City Chiefs, the same may happen this offseason. If so, Kliff Kingsbury should be the only option.

Imagine a world where the Kansas City Chiefs had the NFL’s hottest young star at quarterback, fully complimented with a strong receiving group and an elite running back. It’s an easy scenario to picture given that’s the reality for Chiefs fans in 2018.

In Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes is a frontrunner for MVP at quarterback at the age of 23. Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt are looking to add another Pro Bowl appearance to their resumes with stats at or near the top of their respective positions, and each is still playing out his rookie contract. Add one of the NFL’s best tight ends in Travis Kelce and the additional threat of Sammy Watkins and you have a coordinator’s dream come true—that is, except when it comes to promotions.

For the 2018 season, Eric Bieniemy has enjoyed the spoils of coordinating an offense operating on historic levels in his first season as Chiefs offensive coordinator. He replaced Matt Nagy, who is doing well in his first year as the Chicago Bears head coach, who replaced Doug Pederson who won a Super Bowl. It’s a trend that teams tend to raid the Chiefs offensive staff for their own purposes, which bodes well for Bieniemy’s future.

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Bieniemy’s name was recently mentioned in conjunction with such a position—albeit at the collegiate level. After one year, Bieniemy was likely going to need more time, maybe even a couple seasons, in a coordinator role to be a prime candidate for head coach in the NFL. However, his alma mater of Colorado is looking for a new head coach and Bieniemy’s name has been dropped as a possibility. If so, that leaves the Chiefs looking for another coordinator.

Despite being fired by Texas Tech over the weekend, Kliff Kingsbury should be a name to consider. Although his Texas Tech team has failed to become bowl eligible in recent years, it isn’t for the lack of offense. His teams have been known for its high scoring schemes—as well as a lack of quality defense.

Over six seasons, he went 35-40 after the Red Raiders parted ways with Mike Leach, but Tech has been one of the best offensive teams in the nation over the past four years. They were ranked 2nd in scoring nationally in 2015 and 5th in 2016, both with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback.

The idea that the Chiefs would go after a guy like Kingsbury may be fantasy, but it’s hard not to think about. Reid made sure to implement some things from the Texas Tech playbook to make sure Mahomes was more comfortable running the offense. Who knows Mahomes better than Reid? Kliff Kingsbury does.

How much more fuel would it add to bring Kingsbury on staff? It certainly couldn’t hurt for a new offensive coordinator to already be as familiar with the team’s best offensive player and what he can do. Kingsbury has been hailed for offensive schemes and inventive approach in the past, so what would the results be if matched up with an offensive guru like Andy Reid? Is there a defense that could stop the onslaught? There isn’t a defense now that can stop it.

The knock on Kansas City is their defense, but it isn’t like that side of the ball needs to be ten times better, just a little better than they are right now. The return of Eric Berry may himself be the remedy.

All of this is predicated on the idea that Bieniemy would leave. If not, that’s fine since Bieniemy has done a great job—as well as an offensive coordinator can do under Reid. This offense is performing very well, better than any season under Nagy or Pederson (although Mahomes’s presence will change the game there).

Given the rate at which he loses staff memebers, Reid would do well to get in touch with Kingsbury to manage his options. It’s an idea worth floating around, as the Chiefs look to plant their feet as one of the major players in the AFC for years to come.

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Even more, a move like this one would change the landscape of how NFL teams build to win.

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