Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
January 26, 2026
OPENING STATEMENT: “We’re excited to announce that (Offensive Coordinator) Eric Bieniemy’s coming back to us. We put that out a couple of days ago, I believe, so I think this isn’t new news. It’s good to get him back in the building, and I think we all know how – the energy that Eric brings and what he gives to a football team. He’s coming off of a heck of a season with the Chicago Bears. My hat goes off to the Bears and the great job that they did there. On the other hand, we had another great coordinator, too, with (Former Offensive Coordinator) Matt Nagy, and this gives Matt an opportunity to go out and run his show there and do what he does best, taking two Super Bowl Championships with him and three Super Bowl appearances and a top ten offense that he was working with this past year. He’ll go out and be able to put his own mark on things and that takes my name off of it and he gets the purity of it. I was hoping it’d be a head coaching position, and it still might be that. He deserves that definitely for sure. If that doesn’t work, it gives him an opportunity to step in as a coordinator and run his show from there. It’s a win-win on both sides for both coaches and again we’re glad that EB was able to come back in and jump in that position and bring all the knowledge that he has likewise to the table. With that, times yours.”
Q: In what ways did you notice that you needed Eric Bieniemy’s coaching style back on the team?
REID: “I thought (Former Offensive Coordinator) Matt (Nagy) brought great energy too with his, it’s just different – they both have their own personalities that they share with it. (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) EB does, he’s going to be very direct with the players, very direct with the coaches. It’s a different flavor. Both have been very productive in this system here. I think it’s a win-win for us that way. There’s nobody like EB on the field that way – with the players he does a great job there.”
Q: Did you interview anyone else for the offensive coordinator position from the outside besides Eric Bieniemy?
REID: “(Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) EB was in the playoffs, so I didn’t talk to him until after he was done there. But I had to make a move fast. There are a lot of openings here Sam (McDowell). If one guy is going one direction, you have to make sure that you can fill that position and do it quickly as you possibly can. At the same time being able to talk to others. So, to answer your question yes, I did talk to other people.”
Q: Why does this hire fire you up?
REID: “I’m fired up to get into this offseason and get going. We didn’t do very well this past year and that hasn’t been our M.O. there. I’m going to fix the problem – the problems that we had in all phases, this isn’t just an offense, all phases. There will some guys that move on, there will be people that come in – players and a couple of quality control guys left and a couple of other guys left and we will cover all of that down the road here. Change can be good sometimes for you, and so that’s what I’m fired up about.”
Q: How do you think Eric Bieniemy will help Patrick Mahomes this upcoming season?
REID: “Patrick (Mahomes) knows him, first of all, Jesse (Newell), and then I’d tell you (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) EB will be very direct with him like he does with everybody. But he knows it’s coming from a place of knowledge. You guys can take this whole thing a couple of different ways, so I want to make sure we’re saying this right. Patrick loved (Matt) Nags, and he also loves EB. So, this isn’t an either-or deal. It’s one guy having to replacing another guy – that’s not what this is all about. I want to make sure Nags gets his shoutout here too and EB gets his for coming in here.”
Q: On the process of hiring Eric Bieniemy.
REID: “So, I know both guys (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Former Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy) and know them well. I’ve worked with them hand in hand (and) won championships with them. Here’s Nags in a position where he’s got an opportunity here potentially to move on and create things for him and his family and everything else. One side of that, I’m pushing that and saying, ‘let’s go man – do your thing,’ and on the other side I’ve got to sit there and go ‘who’s going to replace this guy who just came off of winning a couple of championships and going to three Super Bowls?’ EB becomes an obvious guy that you’d want to talk to I would think from a logical standpoint. I think he’s a great fit here – great fit now that he’s back and I’ve had success with bringing guys back into the fold and things happening. So as a unit (and) as an organization I think everybody is fired up to see that we replaced a great guy with another great guy. I’ve got great guys here – (Pass Game Coordinator) Joe Bleymaier, there are very few guys who are as good as Joe Bleymaier, and I feel very confident in him in that offensive room. (Defensive Coordinator Steve) Spags and his crew are here, (Offensive Line Coach) Andy Heck, these guys are all guys that are top notch and then (General Manager) Brett’s (Veach) working the personnel side of it. There’s good continuity, there’s good teamwork that goes on. I know everybody can function well together and that becomes important to me.”
Q: On the team’s coaching changes.
REID: “I don’t want to get into all that, Vahe (Gregorian). We’ll hit that another time. I don’t want to take anything away from (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) EB and him coming back here because I think for everybody, for our fan base, for our ownership (and) for the organization it’s a positive thing. At the same time, I want (Former Offensive Coordinator) Matt (Nagy) to have a chance to be a head football coach and do the things that he’s dreaming of doing. That’s huge in this business, and he’s sitting at an important time with some openings in this league, that you very seldom see where you have these 10 at one time here, 10 different openings and there’s opportunities there.”
Q: When did you determine that it would be best to have a mutual parting with Matt Nagy?
REID: “If we left it that simple, that’s what I would tell you. I know everybody’s going to question everything and I get all that, that’s understandable. But (Former Offensive Coordinator) Matt (Nagy) and I have a great relationship and here he sits. Before the season even started here, I knew that he wanted an opportunity to have his own show. He’s been a head coach, he was Coach of the Year, this guy – all the things I’ve said about him, I still feel about him. There’s nothing different there. He deserves to have a head coaching job, and if not, it gives him an opportunity to go out and do his thing. I would’ve told you the same thing about (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) EB when he did it. It gave him an opportunity to go out and do their thing. So, there was no signage of rollovers and all of that, he wanted to just keep it that way, word gets out on that and gives him an opportunity. Somebody is missing a gem here, that’s how I feel, and I would love to see him get picked up and going. At the same time, we got back a gem. It has a chance to be a win-win here whenever everything is set and done.”
Q: What things do you think Eric Bieniemy learned while he was away that he can bring back here?
REID: “Everywhere you go in this business you pick something up and you might take it with you, or you might say, ‘you know what, I’m not going to do that (and) I don’t want to do that.’ And at the same time, he’s (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) got all these years in this system too, he understands that. So, I welcome that. I always keep my ears and eyes open for things and that’s why we’re very seldom stagnant and why even with our record, I felt where I could stand in front of you guys and go, ‘Listen, what worked for us a year before, it just flipped on us.’ The games we won a year before, they flipped on us this year and we didn’t win and that’s sometimes how this thing works. Now it’s making sure that we get back and correct some things and then get them going in the right direction again. But at the same time, you finish and you’re looking at being in the top 10 offensively before Pat (Mahomes) gets hurt or even after the Dallas game which didn’t go our way. Here’s (Former Offensive Coordinator) Matt (Nagy) sitting with a top five offense in a lot of categories in the NFL. So, I respect that part. This game, we’re seeing it now when you look at the playoffs, these games are nip and tuck baby, you miss a play here or there, you’re going to lose the game. All those games that were so tight for us this year, we have to fix and clean that up.”
Q: Do you think accountability was lacking last season?
REID: “No, I think Pat (Mahomes) probably said it best right there that we’ve always had accountability here with (Offensive Coordinator) Eric (Bieniemy) or without Eric. You’re still responsible for certain things. Whoever is coming in better be feeling that and there’s a certain standard that you’re going to hold each other to. I’m sure that’s what Patrick, without quizzing him here, Soren (Petro) I would tell you that is probably what he was saying.”
Q: Do you constantly remind yourself that the team needs to progress or can that become stagnant with the success the team has had?
REID: “I think we do a good job with that, we try to give you a little different flavor every year and stay ahead of things. I think we’ve got to do a better job all the way around in every area, I think that’s important. And so, you go through and you hammer this thing out, you take every offensive play, every defensive play (and) every special teams play, you go through it, you make sure that you’ve got guys that are aware of the league and how things go there. Different trends offensively, defensively and on special teams and you use all the technology that’s out there. There’s no reason to be stagnant, you’ve got too many different options. You shouldn’t have to bring in the latest greatest here and there and all that. You’ve got all that right at a finger-tip for you if you want to go that route.”
Q: How do you anticipate how play-calling will work with Eric Bieniemy?
REID: “I still enjoy calling plays, but what I do – I’m not afraid to delegate and get opinions from people and then even in certain situations, letting them go ahead and call things in different areas. We do this jointly. I keep it open, and I felt that that’s the best way. I want guys to contribute; I want them to work hard and be experts in their area and then cumulatively in all areas. I’ve always mixed and matched there I guess I’ll tell you Matt (Derrick). It’s seemed to have been fairly productive.”
Q: What do you think is the biggest area Eric Bieniemy can make an impact?