Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy of the Kansas City Chiefs has been turning his attention back to football.
The Kansas City Chiefs got good news about the improving health of the wife of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Mia, after a shooting incident involving their son Elijah, and Bieniemy has also been checking in more recently with the team, according to an AP/ESPN report.
Bieniemy's son, Elijah Bieniemy, has been arrested in connection with the shooting of his mother, Mia, according to the details of the report. He has been charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and discharge of a firearm inside a dwelling, but court appearances for the 27-year-old Bieniemy have been delayed pending a mental health evaluation.
Current passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier has assumed Bieniemy’s duties so far, and he expressed his gratitude for the contact in his comments to the media today.
"It was great to hear from him just from a personal standpoint. You were just so devastated for him," Chiefs pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier, who has assumed many of Bieniemy's duties, said Tuesday. "He has been reaching out more and more lately for the football stuff, and that's brought a sense of normalcy to our team, hearing from him and his thoughts on football."
Bieniemy returned to Kansas City as OC after a stint with the Washington Commanders, and before that he spent a season each with UCLA and the Chicago Bears. He replaced Matt Nagy in Kansas City, with Nagy now working as offensive coordinator for the New York Giants.
Bieniemy was rehired to restore discipline to a team that struggled with penalties and dropped passes, and he also has an intimate knowledge of the Chiefs offense even as Kansas City redesigns parts of it to accommodate quarterback Patrick Mahomes after knee surgery.
Running back Kenneth Walker III is expected to be a big part of that redesign, and he also reacted to Bieniemy’s contacting the team and his possible return.
"We'll hold it down and when [Bieniemy] gets back, we'll be ready to have that intensity and energy. That's what I love most about him," said Walker, who is the reigning Super Bowl MVP and one of Kansas City's big offseason acquisitions. "You can't take a play off because he's going to say something to you about it."
Bleymaier is considered a rising star in the coaching ranks, and he’s much more soft-spoken than Bieniemy. He joked about losing his voice during practice due to some of Bieniemy’s tactics rubbing off on him.
"The guys want to be held accountable. They want someone to remind them what to do and not let anything slide," Bleymaier said. "That's the role of the coordinator and that's the role of whoever is put in that position, to constantly uphold that standard."
