The departure of former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy at the start of the offseason marked the beginning of changes for the Super Bowl LVII champions. Matt Nagy will assume the role this season while his predecessor is focused on turning heads elsewhere to become a head coach in the NFL.
The Washington Commanders became Bieniemy’s new team for the upcoming 2023 season as he seeks a chance to prove his value outside Kansas City. Washington head coach Ron Rivera and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid have had a well-known friendship since Rivera served on Reid’s coaching staff as linebackers coach years ago with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rivera recently spoke with the Commanders Senior VP of Broadcast Julie Donaldson about his conversation with Reid about Bieniemy from NFL annual meetings in Arizona.
“It was really good. It was great, in fact,” said Rivera. “We got an opportunity to really talk about a lot of things to talk about why this is important for Eric (Bieniemy). And, you know, just the fact that he can get out from under Coach (Andy) Reid’s shadow and really show everybody that he is more than capable to earn the opportunity to be a head coach in this league. So that was one of the things that we talked about. We talked a little bit about what they did schematically just to kind of get a good feel and understanding even more so for some of the things that they’re going to do, you know, that Eric is going to do on the offensive side for us.”
Bieniemy is expected to replicate some of the success he had in Kansas City with the personnel in Washington, but it is understood there will be some growing pains. The transition continues to be endorsed proudly by Reid, further showing each party’s respect for the other and not having the narrative be pushed negatively in the public eye.
