Jan. 20, 2026, 12:21 a.m. ET
Eric Bieniemy left the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of the 2022 season to become the new offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders. It was a risky move at the time, considering Washington coach Ron Rivera’s future was murky and Bieniemy was leaving Patrick Mahomes for Sam Howell.
Things predictably went bad. Like, really bad. The defense was terrible, leading Rivera to fire defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio after Thanksgiving. The offense wasn’t much better, but Bieniemy finished the season as Washington’s offensive coordinator. At the conclusion of the season, the entire regime was gone.
Now, Bieniemy is heading back to Kansas City as the offensive coordinator. After his one year with the Commanders, Bieniemy landed at UCLA, where he served as offensive coordinator. It went even worse as his one season in Washington. So, in 2025, Bieniemy returned to the NFL, serving as a running backs coach for Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears.
With Kansas City’s offensive coordinator Matt Nagy’s contract ending, the Chiefs chose to reunite with Bieniemy. It’s worth noting that Kansas City’s offensive coordinator does not call plays. After seeing how that worked out for Bieniemy with Washington and UCLA, reuniting with Andy Reid is probably a good thing.
During his one season with the Commanders, Bieniemy often ignored the running game, putting pressure on Howell to throw the ball far too much. Washington inexplicably led the NFL in pass attempts in 2023. On the flip side, the Commanders had the fewest rushing attempts across the NFL in Bieniemy’s lone season. Howell took a beating. He was eventually benched. Howell was put in a position he wasn’t ready for, which said more about Rivera than it did about anyone else.
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After the season, it was clear that Bieniemy was not popular amongst Washington players.
Now, he’s heading back to a place where he’s spent 10 of his 17 seasons as an NFL assistant coach.