Andy Reid makes initial comments on Matt Nagy’s Chiefs’ return

On Tuesday, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to the media at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, making his first statements to the press since a day after the team’s AFC title loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Reid’s opening statement defended offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who has been retained by the club on a one-year deal for the 2022 season. One of the initial questions to follow sought the head coach’s feelings on Matt Nagy returning to his Chiefs after spending four years as head coach of the Chicago Bears.

“I probably should add that in there,” said Reid. “It’s great to have Matt back. I thought it was important that continuity that we’ve had between Eric (Bieniemy), the quarterback coach, the offensive staff so I thought that was important. Matt was the logical answer to that if he wanted to do that. I didn’t know where he’d be at after being a head coach, but he was fired up to do it, and Eric was fired up, so I was like, ‘Let’s go.’ We’ll roll it in there, and we’ll take it from there.”

Nagy’s official title with the Chiefs is quarterbacks coach and senior offensive assistant, the latter of which would lead one to believe he will have added duties in the formation of the overall game plan. Nagy’s final season with the Chiefs (outlined here) included some play-calling for then-starting quarterback Alex Smith — while he was also helping behind the scenes to develop then-rookie backup quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes has always had nice things to say about Nagy over the years, and they communicated well with one another. Should Bieniemy finally find a head coaching position or play-calling offensive coordinator position next offseason, Nagy would be the sure[-fire bet to replace him as Chiefs’ O-coordinator — then, down the road, who knows?

Sometimes a fresh start can come from taking a few steps back.