“Eric Bieniemy is the NFL’s version of Mark Jackson”: Jalen Rose drops bombshells amid coaching parallels in frustration
Eric Bieniemy was fired as the Washington Commander’s offensive coordinator after only one season with the team. Bieniemy’s exit was inevitable following the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury, the former Arizona Cardinals head coach, on Saturday night. Kingsbury, a known offensive coordinator, was expected to take over the role under Dan Quinn.
It remains to be seen where the two-time Super Bowl champion coach will land. The last four teams to have head coaching vacancies have now been filled so he will likely be an offensive coordinator if he gets hired.
Former NBA player Jalen Rose, however, had this to say about Eric Bieniemy’s chances of getting a head coaching gig:
“Eric Bieniemy has now become the Mark Jackson of the NFL. All of the offensive coordinators that have developed quarterbacks at one level or another have gotten an opportunity or multiple opportunities to be a head coach. You mean Eric Bieniemy can’t get one opportunity?
“Eric Bieniemy won championships with the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce under Andy Reid who has nurtured multiple people who have gone on to become head coaches. … They’re literally denying this man an opportunity that he’s earned and deserved so Imma say what everybody is thinking.”
Mark Jackson was the first coach hired by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber during their first year as Golden State Warriors governors. In his second year with the Dubs, Jackson led the young Warriors to their first playoff appearance since the 2006-07 season. The Warriors gave the veteran San Antonio Spurs all they could handle before bowing out 4-2 in the Western Conference semifinals.
The following year, Golden State made the playoffs again but was edged by the LA Clippers 4-3 in a classic thriller. Jackson was fired as the Warriors thought he had taken the Warrior as far as he could take them. Steve Kerr took over the job and led the Dubs to five straight NBA Finals appearances, winning three of them.
Mark Jackson has been interviewed on several occasions but he hasn’t been back on the sidelines since 2014. Eric Bieniemy has been on the same path. Despite success with the Kansas City Chiefs, he still couldn’t land a job as the leader and head coach of an NFL team.
Eric Bieniemy could retire from the NFL without the head coaching opportunity that Mark Jackson once had in the NBA
There is the notion that Eric Bieniemy is overrated as an offensive coordinator. Some analysts think that it has always been Andy Reid who has been the reason for the Kansas City Chiefs’ dominant run. It’s supposedly for this reason that Bieniemy can’t land the head coaching job he has been going after.
Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy previously held the same role under Reid and both were fired by the Chiefs. It didn’t take long for them, however, to become head coach as Pederson went to the Philadelphia Eagles while the Chicago Bears hired Nagy.
Bieniemy, meanwhile, has had several head coaching job interviews but can’t get hired. Next season, he may have to sit on the sidelines. The Seattle Seahawks are looking for an offensive coordinator after Mike Macdonald was named head coach. It remains to be seen if the former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator will even consider Bieniemy.