Former KC Chiefs players sound off about Eric Bieniemy

In the days following Eric Bieniemy’s perceived on-field dust-up with Patrick Mahomes, former Chiefs players sound off on social media.

You had to know the social media storm was coming after Sunday’s loss, particularly since CBS cameras caught Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and franchise quarterback Patrick Mahomes having what appeared to be a pretty spirited discussion about the direction the team went to end the first half.

What you may not have expected was multiple former Chiefs players publicly weighing in on the topic.

The social media town hall started on Monday with LeSean McCoy, who had a cup of coffee with the Chiefs, appearing in 13 games in 2019. McCoy’s preferred method of speaking out? The comment section of a Bleacher Report Grid Iron post on Instagram:

Shady’s stance was pretty clear: he does not appear to be a fan of Eric Bieniemy. This should not come as a shock to anyone who has misused their time listening to McCoy rant about his lackluster time in Kansas City. In May, on the I Am Athlete podcast, McCoy had this to say about the Chiefs offensive coordinator, who again failed to land a head coaching position this past offseason:

"“There’s a reason why every year they hype him up to get a job and then when the time comes, nobody hires him because they know the type of coach he really is,”"

This prompted a response from Chiefs head coach Andy Reid- someone who McCoy has historically been very fond of. Reid drafted McCoy in 2009 as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and coached him for four seasons before being fired and taking the Kansas City Chiefs head coaching job in 2013. While Reid was one of McCoy’s favorite coaches in Philly and the reason he came to Kansas City on a 1-year deal after being cut by Buffalo, Reid was a bit more direct when it came to Shady’s abilities at the end of his career:

"“Sometimes, it’s hard on a veteran player that maybe their performance level isn’t what it used to be, and it’s hard to take sometimes,” Reid said. “But he [Bieniemy] is going to push you and maximize what you’ve got. That’s one of his strengths … sometimes you want to hear it, and sometimes you don’t. I’m a big LeSean fan. In my eyes, he’s a future Hall of Fame running back. If you look at [it] statistically, he was tremendous. But he wasn’t the youngest pup in the kennel here. He was on the back side [of his career], and sometimes that’s hard to take.”"

Without a doubt tough for McCoy to hear, but Andy wasn’t wrong. McCoy had just 465 yards in 13 games with the Chiefs, 4 touchdowns, and 3 fumbles. Do you know who fared a bit better in the backfield as a Chief under the tutelage of Eric Bieiemy? Future Ring of Honor member Jamaal Charles. Charles chimed in on Twitter on to compare the outburst of Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey’s press box tirade after their 21-19 loss to Miami.

Naturally, a player who played for the guy chiming in on social media will attract folks who are certain they know more than him to also chime in. Here’s how Jamaal handled a fan who thought it would be appropriate to tell him he was wrong about a guy who he worked with for multiple seasons.

In a stunning turn of events, Charles was not having the “Players talk, that’s why EB isn’t a head coach” argument that’s been permeating on social media since the attempted expose detailing locker room conversations and “insider” information from a crack group of internet detectives was dropped as an attempted hit piece on Bieniemy in February of this year. I would link the article for you, but the authors took it down within 24 hours of posting it.

Charles was not the only former Chiefs player to come to EB’s defense. Former Chiefs offensive lineman and good samaritan Jeff Allen agreed with Charles in backing Bieniemy while simultaneously discrediting and somewhat dragging McCoy for his lashing out. Allen might’ve given McCoy a little too much credit, as 7 months sounds generous for his tenure in K.C., but I’ve already spent enough time thinking about McCoy today and don’t care to check the receipts on his time as a Chief.

Another former Chief who didn’t play for Bieniemy, but knows a thing or two about hard coaching and the relationship between coaches and players in the NFL—former Chiefs tight end Jason Dunn—also sounded off on the interaction on his Chief Concerns podcast this week. His determination? No big deal.

https://twitter.com/ConcernsChief/status/1574804877372530690

When asked about the “altercation” postgame, Mahomes was pretty straightforward with his insight into the situation. I know it’s hard to grasp for some, but we have to remember that Mahomes was actually there, and was one of the two parties involved in the conversation. Tough pill to swallow for the body language experts and hundreds of Chiefs Insiders on social media.

"“I pretty much just said, ‘Let me have a chance at it.’ And then [Bieniemy] was just like, ‘Let’s get back in our locker room, and we’ll get some going for the next half,’” Mahomes said. “I don’t know if that’s an altercation, but that was the end of the conversation.”"

Look, if you want to remain skeptical about the Chiefs’ offensive decision-making, I can’t knock you for that. But I think it’s time that fans and those who aren’t inside the walls stop fabricating reasons for a coach who has experienced nothing but nearly unparalleled success as an offensive coordinator in the NFL to lose his job. Will Eric Bieniemy be back in the same capacity with the Kansas City Chiefs next year? I don’t know. But neither do the loudmouth Twitter trolls who claim to have insider info and think they know what’s going on inside the walls of the Chiefs facilities.

The bottom line is this: football is a game played and coached by highly competitive, driven grown men. There are going to be disagreements, and sometimes those will get heated. It’s the nature of the business. We as fans, like the Chiefs, need to turn our attention to the Week 4 matchup with Tampa Bay.