Eric Bieniemy returns Chiefs' focus to fundamentals

The return of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy could be exactly what the Chiefs‘ offense needed.

Bieniemy brings energy and, more importantly, extreme accountability. And the goal is obvious — get the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl, a year after missing the postseason.

“I know this sounds very high school-ish, this answer I’m about to give you,” Bieniemy said, via Jesse Newell of The Athletic. “We’ve got to get back to doing the fundamental things the right way.”

The focus on fundamentals includes basic aspects of the game. Footwork — for quarterbacks, running backs, offensive linemen. Basic details, like linemen having their backs flat in their stance before the snap and receivers running their routes with a plan to get open.

“If we can’t do those things the right way, it don’t matter who the hell we play,” Bieniemy said, per Newell. “So we’ve got to make sure we address those issues and get back to the bread and butter of how this game was played.”

The accountability manifests itself in the simplest of ways. As Newell explains it, Bieniemy kicked the entire starting offense off the field after the players failed to line up properly.

“We can’t get comfortable being comfortable, and not enjoying the fundamentals that we have to work on every single day,” Bieniemy said.

For a team that had won three Super Bowls and had gone to five in six seasons, it’s easy to become complacent about the day-in, day-out details. Bieniemy’s return brings the kind of a kick in the ass that the Chiefs may need after going 1-9 in one-score games in 2025 and missing the playoffs entirely.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has welcomed the approach, because Mahomes has seen what it can do. For any players who have arrived since Bieniemy left after the 2022 season (and a Super Bowl win), Bieniemy’s style could be exactly what the Chiefs need to get back to being the Chiefs the NFL have known since Mahomes became the starter in 2018.