It’s that time of year again, the Kansas City Chiefs offense is thriving and OC Eric Bieniemy is getting head coaching interviews. Having said that, NFL insiders around the league believe this time could be different for the “always the bridesmaid” HC candidate of recent offseasons.
“There are a lot of people I talk to about the coaching carousel who believe this could finally be the year Bieniemy gets his shot,” ESPN insider Dan Graziano wrote on December 28. “I’m not sure what has changed since last year — maybe the Chiefs’ ability to maintain their high level of offensive performance without Tyreek Hill — but for some reason he sounds like he’s more popular on the circuit this time around.”
A Bieniemy departure would obviously create an opening on head coach Andy Reid’s staff, and Arrowhead Addict contributor Charles Robinson had a suggestion for how to best fill it: A reunion between quarterback Patrick Mahomes II and college coach Kliff Kingsbury.
Kliff Kingsbury Could Regroup as Patrick Mahomes’ QB Coach
In case you haven’t heard, Kingsbury was recently relieved of duties as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. The future feels uncertain for the former Texas Tech visionary that built “one of the nation’s most high-powered offenses” with Mahomes under center.
Will he remain in the NFL or head back to the collegiate level? Would teams view the offensive mind as an OC candidate or a quarterbacks coach in 2023?
“It’s no secret to anyone that Kingsbury and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes have an outstanding relationship,” Robinson began. “Kingsbury recruited Mahomes to Texas Tech and was his head coach throughout Mahomes’ stay in Lubbock. To say the duo worked well together would be an understatement. Mahomes’ production and performance in Kingsbury’s offense propelled him into the top 10 of the 2017 NFL Draft while the team’s offensive success spearheaded by Mahomes pushed Kingsbury from the helm of a mid-tier Big XII program all the way to the head coaching spot in Arizona.”
“Mahomes and Kingsbury are notably still chummy,” he continued later in the article, “hanging out in the off-season and staying in communication… The fit would be there for Kingsbury to plug in and work naturally with the Chiefs’ signal caller.”
For a failed head coach like Kingsbury, KC could certainly be an easy way to regroup and reconstruct his career under one of the best teachers in the sport — Reid.
Of course, there is the question of Matt Nagy and whether or not the current Chiefs QB coach would be first in line to take over the offensive coordinator duties. Robinson accounted for that too, concluding that “it would not be a complete shock to see [a] Chiefs offensive staff made over the next year with Matt Nagy regaining the helm of the offense as coordinator under Reid, and Mahomes and Kingsbury reigniting their bromance with Kliff as Mahomes’ QB coach.”
Patrick Mahomes & Kliff Kingsbury Share Ultimate Respect for One Another
Mahomes spoke about his relationship with Kingsbury earlier this season ahead of Week 1 versus the Cardinals.
“[He’s] someone that taught me a ton. Not only about football, but about life,” Mahomes admitted at the time. “He got me out of high school, where I was a baseball player trying to play football, basically trying to be on my own, he helped me become who I am today.”
“He’s a pretty decent player,” Kingsbury joked about Mahomes in return. “Yeah, it’ll be a little surreal going against him. It’ll be fun. It’ll be fun for Texas Tech people as well.”
The Chiefs did beat the Cardinals by a score of 44-21, setting the tone for the 2022 season for both franchises.
“I’m just really proud of the person more than anything,” Kingsbury added before the matchup. “Just watching how he has grown up, the leadership qualities he’s shown on and off the field. I mean, anytime you watch him in any of those arenas, just how socially responsible he is, how he leads, how he treats people, the stuff he does in the community with charities. He runs the gambit of what you want a sports star to be like and carry himself. So that has been really special to watch that development.”
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Patrick Mahomes’ Mentor Suggested as Potential Eric Bieniemy Replacement