Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator is monitoring practices from both near and afar as the KC preps to play again.
Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is transitioning from watching the team’s practices from a far to actually running them as the Chiefs head into tonight’s second preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Florida.
Bieniemy was watching practices from afar as he helped his wife recover from the recent shooting incident involving their son, Elijah Bieniemy, as he used streaming technology to look in on what was happening.
The offensive coordinator praised the technology, which gave him the opportunity to do something that would have been either primitive or mostly off the table earlier in his coatrching career. It took some time for him to settle into a routine, but Bieniemy said he learned a lot.
“I wasn’t always watching, but when things settled back home, I had an opportunity to tap in,” Bieniemy said in a piece written by Jesse Newell of The Athletic. “I’ll tell you, technology is pretty impressive.”
It wasn’t always a comfortable watch, though. Bieniemy said he was frequently angered by seeing things happening in practice that weren’t up to his standards.
“Yelling at the screen. Yelling at players, yelling at coaches,” Bieniemy said. “‘What the [expletive] are we doing?’ I’m yelling at myself. ‘Why would you put that play in?’ But at the end of the day, it was just (to make) sure I can keep up with what was going on.”
He also joked that family members heard him use some colorful language they’re not used to, but it was all part of the remote experience.
“But I had a great time,” Bieniemy said, “and it felt good just to see the guys work.”
The offensive coordinator was able to hit the ground running when he got back, and he’s been working hard to get things back up to his standards.
“There was some good. But these practices we’ve had the past few days, the guys have stepped up,” Bieniemy said. “They’ve accepted the challenge, and they understand, ‘OK, what needs to be accomplished?’ We’re just going to continue to grow from here on out.”
His thoughts are still on his family, of course, with Mia Bieniemy still recovering, and his son facing a series of legal challenges after undergoing a competency evaluation.
Challenges await on the field as well. The Chiefs looked like anything but a well-tuned machine in their 20-12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the preseason opener, so Bieniemy will be looking to help sharpen the execution against Tampa Bay tonight.
