ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — As an orator, Eric Bieniemy loves his new job. One task Bieniemy enjoys about his new requirements as the Chiefs’ new offensive coordinator is that he gets to move around even more on the practice fields during training camp. Among coach Andy Reid’s staff, few assistants are as skillful as Bieniemy when it comes to spreading a message.
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During a recent practice, Bieniemy roamed to every position on the offense as players went through drills — the very drills that, at times, can become dull. For Bieniemy, nothing about football is uneventful.
He began with the running backs and fullbacks, the positions he previously coached. Bieniemy shouted the same word — “Finish! Finish! Finish!” — as each ball carrier burst through the line of scrimmage, imploring them to complete the drill at full speed. With the receivers, Bieniemy looked at each in the face from a few yards away before they started their route. His persuasive message for Tyreek Hill, the dynamic and speedy third-year player, was simple: “The great ones don’t take days off.” With the offensive linemen, Bieniemy quizzed the group about each protection adjustment they went over the day before in a meeting.
When the team began scrimmaging, Bieniemy, with a walkie-talkie in his right hand, voiced the play calls from Reid to quarterback Patrick Mahomes through his helmet. Each play call was followed with Bieniemy quickly giving Mahomes encouragement or motivation. The phrase most used was “be aggressive.”
Reid has relished watching Bieniemy in his new role. He appreciates how Bieniemy doesn’t waste words.
“He’s an unbelievable communicator, someone who can get his point across clearly and can take the complex and make it simple,” Reid said. “He’s teaching, and that’s the important part. He’s been great for everybody, from the quarterback all the way down through the offensive line.”
Throughout an offseason full of changes to the roster — including the biggest, at quarterback — Bieniemy has challenged himself to understand the various personalities on offense. He wants his voice to have an impact, whether in film sessions, in position meetings or just one-on-one conversations during the few free moments available in camp.
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He enters and leaves each practice asking himself one question: How can I help bring better unity?
“It’s a great honor to have this opportunity,” Bieniemy said last week. “Now I just want to make sure that we do a great job working together, but doing it the right way.”
Perhaps what has mattered most to Bieniemy in his entire football career is his ceaseless pursuit to execute every objective in the correct manner. This is the biggest theme behind every intense lecture Bieniemy shares with the Chiefs. You don’t need to relearn or do something twice if you pay attention to all the details the first time. The fastest way to improve and advance your career, Bieniemy says, is to treat each assignment with the care and respect it deserves and demands.
“Every play,” he said, “is by far the most important.”
Bieniemy, 48, understands the value of such an approach, which he knows has led him to one of the most coveted jobs in the NFL.
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Entering this season, Bieniemy knew the statistic. Among the league’s 32 teams, he, as an African-American, is the lone offensive coordinator who is a minority.
Many African-American assistants on offense, in the past decade, haven’t been given the opportunity to become either a coordinator or a quarterbacks coach, the usual top two offense-related positions on a staff under the head coach. Along with data, the perception throughout the league is that minority coaches have a better chance of becoming a coordinator or head coach by being, or switching to, a defensive assistant.
From 2007 to 2017, just 13 of the 147 offensive-coordinator openings in the league went to African-Americans, according to The Denver Post. Hue Jackson, the coach of the Browns, accounted for three of the 13 hirings, as he was the coordinator for the Falcons, Raiders and Bengals.
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Nine teams — the Chargers (George Stewart), Eagles (Duce Staley), Falcons (Raheem Morris), 49ers (Jon Embree), Jets (Mike Caldwell), Packers (Winston Moss), Seahawks (Clint Hurtt), Steelers (John Mitchell) and Texans (Romeo Crennel) — have minorities who are assistant or associate head coaches. Just three of the league’s quarterbacks coaches are minorities: Marcus Brady with the Colts, David Culley with the Bills and Byron Leftwich, a former 10-year NFL quarterback, with the Cardinals.
“If you’re not the quarterback coach or if you’re not the coordinator calling plays, how do you get elevated to become a head coach?” Jackson said on ESPN radio in January 2016. “In order for you to have that opportunity, you have to be put in that position to have a chance to ascend.”
In the same interview, Jackson said he felt some minority assistants are fearful when pursuing a coordinator position because of where their careers may go if they fail with such responsibilities. A second opportunity, Jackson said, may never be given.
With knowledge of the league’s hiring record, Bieniemy wants to be a success, not only for the Chiefs but for other minority assistants who have the potential and knowledge to be high-quality coordinators and head coaches.
“I’m making sure I’m making the very most of it — studying, looking at tape, viewing (play) scripts,” said Bieniemy, the second minority offensive coordinator in the Chiefs’ history. “I’m asking questions to Coach (Reid). I’m trying to get as much information as I can milk out of him.”
Bieniemy also knows his career path to becoming a coordinator was not conventional.
For nine NFL seasons, Bieniemy was a ferocious running back who lengthened his career by being smart and versatile out of the backfield. He began his coaching career in 2000 as an assistant at Thomas Jefferson High in Denver. He coached running backs in college for six years before joining the Vikings in 2006. With Adrian Peterson as the Vikings’ star running back, Bieniemy helped him gain 5,782 rushing yards and score 52 touchdowns in four seasons.
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In 2011, Bieniemy was hired by Jon Embree to be Colorado’s offensive coordinator. Both men returned to their alma mater to help rebuild the school’s program. In Bieniemy’s first season, Colorado’s offense ranked 92nd in the nation. The team went 4-20 in two years, which prompted the school to fire Embree and his staff.
Reid, when first building his staff after arriving in Kansas City, hired Bieniemy in 2013. Since then, the fiery Bieniemy has helped improve every featured running back for the Chiefs. Jamaal Charles led the league in touchdowns (19) in 2013 and averaged a franchise-best 5.5 yards per carry. Spencer Ware became a reliable player under Bieniemy in 2016, and Kareem Hunt, as a rookie, led the league in rushing last season.
“He pays attention to everything,” Ware said of Bieniemy. “The biggest thing Coach Bieniemy will bring to our offense is his intensity. Take a look at his résumé or the players he’s coached and the way they play football. Having the entire offense with that same mentality is pretty exciting.”
For a man who loves talking, Bieniemy tried to be a better listener this summer after his promotion.
He called Embree. He spoke with Rip Scherer, the Chargers’ tight-ends coach who was Colorado’s quarterbacks coach from 2011-12. He chatted with Darrell Bevell, the former Seahawks offensive coordinator, and Tom Cable, the Raiders’ offensive-line coach. Each man congratulated Bieniemy and offered advice.
“They’ve given me a lot,” Bieniemy said, smiling. “Most of them said, ‘Hey E.B., you can’t work yourself to death. You’ve got to step back and take a couple deep breaths. Enjoy the process.’”
Embree made sure to tell Bieniemy that he was more than capable of succeeding.
“A lot of times, people think you have to be a quarterback to be an offensive coordinator, and that’s not the case,” Embree told The Kansas City Star in January. “I’m glad he’s getting a chance to show that that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.”
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Every assistant, at some point, needs a mentor, someone who will give them guidance and significant support.
One of first men who became a coaching mentor for Bieniemy was Reid. In 1999, Bieniemy played the final season of his career with the Eagles, who were led by Reid, then a first-year coach. The more the men worked together, the more Bieniemy was amazed by what he learned from the complexities of Reid’s West Coast offense.
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Reid felt Bieniemy could be a productive coach after his playing career, and both men were thrilled to be reunited in 2013 after building their relationship through the years. In January, when the Bears hired Matt Nagy, the Chiefs’ former offensive coordinator, Reid promoted Bieniemy the next day.
“A football genius,” Bieniemy said of Reid. “We just sit there and we talk about ball and all the different things that can present itself throughout the course of a week or a game. I couldn’t ask for a better situation to be in.”
Several people during camp — owner Clark Hunt, team president Mark Donovan and plenty of players — have noted that Reid has been energized by the newness of his team after so much roster change. Reid acknowledged his excitement and said Bieniemy was a large reason for it.
“He’s my right-hand man,” Reid said of Bieniemy. “He has a tremendous work ethic. You appreciate his energy every day. He’s positive. I’ve got full confidence that he can take the offense and roll with it if I can’t make it to something. He can take it and go.”
For the past five years, Bieniemy observed how Reid treated his players, designed innovative plays and handled conflict in the locker room.
Bieniemy’s latest experience, especially during camp, has been bringing his knowledge and perspective to the quarterback room. In the regular season, Reid, Bieniemy, Mahomes and Mike Kafka (the quarterbacks coach) will study and develop the weekly game plan. As a first-time starter, Mahomes has spent most of his time on the practice field standing next to Bieniemy when not taking his snaps.
“If I screw it up, my job is to have Patrick fix it,” Bieniemy said. “When Patrick screws it up, it’s my job is to help Patrick fix it. We’re working in cahoots together.”
Through mistakes and effective plays, Bieniemy has pushed Mahomes to complete all of his pre-snap reads and adjustments before using his aggressiveness and strong arm to push the ball down the field.
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“It’s been awesome,” Mahomes said of learning from Bieniemy. “He’s someone who is good with the protections, good with pretty much every nuance of the offense, of the little details, which is something I need to work on every single day. Having him and being able to ask him questions is something I’ve really tried to utilize as this camp has gone on.”
In his 19 years as a head coach, Reid has produced 13 winning seasons. He has won with several quarterbacks, from Donovan McNabb to Michael Vick to Alex Smith. And with those victories, Reid has worked with coordinators who have become head coaches. Brad Childress, Doug Pederson and Nagy were all hired to lead teams after working next to Reid.
Dave Toub, the Chiefs’ assistant head coach and special-teams coordinator, said Bieniemy has the respect of players and the leadership traits to potentially be the next offensive assistant under Reid whom owners consider hiring for a head-coaching job.
“Eric has certainly paid his dues, and he’s definitely deserving of this position,” Toub said. “It’s like getting a PhD. It puts him in a spotlight, which is great.”
The Chiefs’ offense this season could be explosive. The team is confident in Mahomes’ playmaking ability, Kareem Hunt and Ware could be a strong duo, and receivers Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins and Hill are all Pro Bowl-worthy players. The offensive line features several veterans, too.
Bieniemy is aware of what might be possible, both for the team and his career, if the Chiefs become legitimate Super Bowl contenders. But Bieniemy didn’t allow himself to think of the future too much. His next task after a recent practice needed to be handled with the proper amount of attention.
“The only thing I want to do,” he said, “is correct this tape, make sure we get the corrections right and move forward.”
(Top photo: Kena Krutsinger/Getty Images)
