Travis Kelce reacts to reported return of Eric Bieniemy as Chiefs offensive coordinator

Travis Kelce is thrilled to see the return of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. The Kansas City Chiefs are reportedly bringing the coach back as the team’s OC, to replace Matt Nagy.

Nagy’s contract is up and he is talking with other teams about their head coaching vacancies. Bieniemy spent the 2025 season with the Chicago Bears as the running backs coach. But, he made his bones as Andy Reid’s right-hand man in Kansas City, winning a couple of Super Bowls along the way and it was during the peak of Kelce’s career with the Chiefs.

So safe to say, should Kelce return for another season in 2026, he’d be thrilled to see Bieniemy back in the building. In fact, he said as much so if you read the tea leaves, we could see the future Hall of Fame tight end back in action in the fall.

“I love that shit. I think it’s great,” Kelce said to brother Jason on New Heights. “I think it’s a marriage (that’s) gonna pick up right where it left off. EB and who he is as a coach, you can see kind of his personality, what he brings to this table with that Chicago team. I know Ben Johnson has his own version of that. He’s a very tough guy. And what he did in Detroit, he brought over as well. And you can see those running backs over Chicago and their body of work was definitely an Eric Bieniemy style of football … 

“I can’t wait to see him back in the building. Man, he’s one of my favorite coaches of all time, one of my favorite people of all time. I’ve had so many unbelievable, you know, growing moments under him as a player, as a person. And I just love the guy, and it’s gonna be awesome to see him back in the building and see him back wearing the Chiefs logo, baby.” 

Bieniemy first joined the Chiefs coaching staff in 2013 after spending the 2011 and 2012 season as the offensive coordinator for Colorado. He was the running backs coach for the Chiefs from 2013 to 2017 and was promoted to offensive coordinator when Patrick Mahomes (who is currently dealing with a torn ACL) became the starting QB. When Bieniemy was the Chiefs’ OC, the Chiefs reached the Super Bowl three times and won two of them.

During that time, the thought was Bieniemy was going to be a head coach soon. In 2023, Bieniemy signed a contract with the Washington Commanders to be the team’s offensive coordinator and assistant head coach under head coach Ron Rivera. Following the 2023 season, Rivera was fired, and Bieniemy was not retained.

In 2024, UCLA signed Bieniemy to be its offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He was fired at the end of the season after the Bruins finished near the bottom of the country in yards per game and points scored per game.

The Chiefs are looking to get back on track after finishing the 2025 season at 6-11. It’s the first losing season for Kansas City since 2012, when the team finished 2-14. It’s also the first time the Chiefs have missed the playoffs since the 2014 season.

Brian Jones contributed to this report