For anyone still wondering whether Eric Bieniemy was really the missing link for the Kansas City Chiefs offense, here's a wrinkle: even former players say they're relishing a return to what Bieniemy provides.
Take Isiah Pacheco. He spent four seasons at Arrowhead after being drafted in the seventh round in 2022. This spring, he accepted a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions as their new No. 2 running back behind Jahmyr Gibbs. When asked about his new running backs coach, Tashard Choice, who is also in his first season in Detroit, at minicamp, Pacheco spoke about a leader who sounds a lot like Bieniemy.
"First and foremost, pinpointing the details in the work and coming out here and executing at a high level," said Pacheco when asked about what he's learning from Choice. "But most importantly, [it's] not making the same mistake twice—coming out and being better from that mistake ... the coach has pinpointed all the details at a high level. He loves the game. You can tell by his coaching. He's determined."
If you take the name off that quote, it could have run in any Chiefs story from this spring, because it's the same thing that Chiefs players have been saying since the team brought Bieniemy back to replace Matt Nagy.
Bieniemy first held the role as offensive coordinator for five seasons before leaving to join Ron Rivera's staff with the Washington Commanders. Matt Nagy took over as OC in 2023, and the Chiefs won their second consecutive Super Bowl, but a slow offensive decline, along with a lack of development in younger players, heightened frustrations and forced major coaching changes this offseason.
Isiah Pacheco is validating what everyone at Arrowhead is saying about Bieniemy's return to the franchise.
The Chiefs allowed Nagy's contract to expire (and he's now with the New York Giants in the same capacity under new head coach Jim Harbaugh). Bieniemy was hired back after serving as the Chicago Bears running backs coach in '25. With him, the Chiefs also replaced their positional coaches at RB and wide receiver—ushering in DeMarco Murray and Chad O'Shea as fresh voices. Minor additions were also made.
The quotes coming out of Arrowhead following Bieniemy's return sound like Pacheco's out of Detroit. Left tackle Josh Simmons is working with EB for the first time and said, "He's intense and the first meeting, I was ready to run into a wall."
Kenneth Walker III got an earful before he'd even suited up: "From the first night I met him… he was talking about everything I needed to be detailed at. He's got high standards. That's good if you want to be better."
Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was elated to have his old offensive coordinator back around, "I love it, man, I truly do. I think you can feel it in the meeting rooms. The way he carries himself, with the confidence that he carries himself with, it really focuses you in on what you’re learning and the little details of things. It’s been exciting to me, that first meeting had me wanting to run through a brick wall, it had me ready to go.”
The in-house quotes can be read with some skepticism, knowing that no one is going to say something negative to Chiefs reporters about a Chiefs coach during a Chiefs media session. But those remarks all point in the same direction, and Pacheco, who is outside of Arrowhead for the first time, is validating the greater perspective by relishing the same thing 600 miles away.
Accountability is the new buzzword in Kansas City. The details matter again. It's possible the intense approach grew stale back in 2022 after Bieniemy had been in the building for a decade. But sometimes a team doesn't know what it had until it's gone, and it sounds as if everyone at Arrowhead—or even those who left—have missed his voice.
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