Chiefs' Andy Reid addresses Eric Bieniemy leaving NFL for UCLA

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine he's still a "big believer" in former Chiefs and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy after Bieniemy decided to spend at least next season as associate head coach and offensive coordinator with the UCLA Bruins.

"Wherever he goes, and whatever he does, he’s going to be good at," Reid said about Bieniemy, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "He did that at Washington. He helped change a culture there that they’ll build on. He’s going to demand greatness out of you. He’ll do the same thing at UCLA. He’ll do a great job." 

Bieniemy served as an assistant and later as offensive coordinator with the Chiefs under Reid from 2013 through the 2022 season. 

Reid routinely campaigned for Bieniemy to earn a head-coaching gig during a run that included the Chiefs winning a pair of Super Bowl titles from February 2020 through February 2023, but Bieniemy instead left Kansas City to become assistant head coach and offensive coordinator with the Commanders last winter. 

Bieniemy allegedly performed poorly in head-coaching interviews during his Chiefs tenure and, more recently, reportedly bothered some Washington players due to his supposed "intense" and "stubborn" nature. 

According to Simmons, Bieniemy did not have any reported head-coaching interviews this winter before or after new Washington head coach Dan Quinn declined to retain the 54-year-old. 

"He’s in charge," Reid added about Bieniemy. "It's hard when you’re in charge of something to have to step back. He’s got an opportunity here to do his thing on offense...And maybe he’s a head coach at the college level. I thought he should be a head coach here [at this level] but if it doesn’t happen, maybe he has that opportunity there to do it. But, I’m a big fan."

NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated explained earlier this week that Bieniemy returning to Kansas City this offseason "may have been a bit awkward." 

While Bieniemy seems to have a supporter in Reid, it's unclear what the former has left to prove to receive an NFL head-coaching job.