Should the Chiefs try to bring back Eric Bieniemy permanently?

Eric Bieniemy visited the Chiefs before the AFC Championship game and had a positive impact.

It's impossible to quantify exactly how much a coach means to a team—even a head coach—in the National Football League. It might seem that the standings are at least the ultimate way to separate the good and the bad, the wheat and the chaff, but the impact of a leader is so enmeshed with other factors (talent, chemistry, health, luck) that the level of importance remains a mystery.

If that's true for even a head coach, then that's doubly true for an assistant coach, which is maybe partially Eric Bieniemy has had such a difficult time finding a head coaching role. Just how responsible was he for the Kansas City Chiefs' success in recent years is, again, impossible to tell. But at the very least, what became clear throughout the 2023 campaign was that he was missed.

As it turns out, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid invited Bieniemy back for a reunion before the team's recent win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game. NFL reporter James Palmer has the story here:

"The night before the AFC title game in Baltimore, my understanding is that he drove up, went to the team hotel, met with the offensive side of the ball. There was a play up they were going over and Bieniemy went up—it was an old play—and kinda went through the install with the offense for old time’s sake.

"Patrick Mahomes told us that there were some chill bumps with guys in that room with Eric Bieniemy back in front of them. He said, ‘You can feel him and feel his presence when he’s in a room.’"

Palmer goes on to say that Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling even told him that the Bieniemy, known for yelling all the time at everyone, was perhaps a missing element this year. "When he was back in that room that night, I kinda got the feeling that I missed it and that maybe I took it for granted," Palmer described MVS as saying.

There were several moments throughout this season where fans and analysts alike wondered if Bieniemy's leadership was the void felt on a team struggling with simple mental mistakes—from dropped passes to silly penalties. The Chiefs looked poorly coached in several games, as details slipped through the cracks and cost them multiple wins.

Bieniemy wasn't around last year because, after years of being spurned for every head coaching job in the NFL for nearly a half-decade, he accepted a lateral move to become the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders under Ron Rivera's leadership. The thought process was that it would help him to escape Reid's shadow and showcase some success with another team.

Now one year later, Washington had one of the worst seasons in the NFL, and Rivera is fired. Bieniemy himself is likely one-and-done in the nation's capital now that Dan Quinn is the new head coach. What does that mean for his future? It's hard to say, but most coaching hires have already begun and the number of open coordinator positions is dwindling.

So what about a return to Kansas City? Could that be in the cards? Matt Nagy is the current OC and he's also a former head coach. Mike Kafka already left to try the path forward with another team knowing how crowded things were already looking for his future promotional goals.

As of right now, Reid also said that Bieniemy is in the running for a couple of other unfilled jobs, but it's also not difficult to see Reid trying to provide cover for an old friend who could use a place to land at least for a bit. dsfa