3 reasons why Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy was overlooked by NFL franchises as HC candidate yet again
Eric Bieniemy has been one of the most popular head coaching candidates in the NFL for several years now. Each offseason when the head coach hiring cycle begins, his name always comes up as a potential candidate for most of the available job openings.
He has become a relevant option to fill a head coaching position ever since taking over as the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator in 2018.
Eric Bieniemy has enjoyed a ton of success in his role as offensive coordinator, helping the Chiefs achieve one of the top offenses in the NFL every year since he's taken over the position.
He also works directly with Andy Reid, one of the most highly respected head coaches in the entire NFL. It would appear that the time has come for his own opportunity as head coach, if not overdue.
Teams Eric Bieniemy has interviewed for or had a request to be interviewed in the past 4 years:
Bengals, Dolphins, Jaguars, Chargers, Broncos, Saints, Falcons, Lions, Jets, Texans, Browns, Giants, Panthers, Bucs, Eagles.
The exact reasons are unclear at this point, but he has been passed over in favor of other candidates each time he's interviewed for a head coaching position. He has interviewed for just about every available head coaching job over the past two offseasons, but has been unable to land any of them.
Here are three possible reasons why Bieniemy has not yet been hired as a head coach.
3 Possible reasons why Eric Bieniemy has been unable to land a job as a head coach in the NFL
#1 - The Kansas City Chiefs don't "need" Bieniemy
An argument can be made that Bieniemy doesn't bring much to the table for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Though he is the offensive coordinator, the offensive scheme is mostly designed by head coach Andy Reid, who has used his own system for his entire head coaching career. Reid is also the one who calls plays on game day, not Bieniemy.
Eric Bieniemy has not only been the Chiefs OC during the last 4 seasons, he’s been the Chiefs OC during the greatest 4 year stretch in franchise history.
29 jobs. 22 franchises. 0 offered him a head coaching job.
The man has done all that he can and still nothing. Pathetic. https://t.co/Ktqfa0s7T0
Some would argue that if you took Eric Bieniemy away from the Chiefs, nothing would change. They would still run Andy Reid's offense, which is loaded with weapons that were brought in by the organization.
A strong case can be made that Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce would dominate opposing defenses under Reid regardless of who the offensive coordinator is.
#2 - The Matt Nagy Dilemma
Matt Nagy was the Chiefs offensive coordinator prior to Eric Bieniemy. In the 2017 season, with Alex Smith as the starting quarterback, the Chiefs finished as a top-five offense under Nagy and made it to the NFL Playoffs. Nagy called plays for the offense on game days, unlike Bieniemy currently.
Nagy was named the head coach of the Chicago Bears in 2018, where he had a great first season before falling off. He has an overall 34-33 record, including 0-2 in the postseason and 22-28 over the last three years. Nagy's failures with the Bears could possibly have a negative influence on Bieniemy as a head coach candidate.
#3 - Legal Issues
Though each instance occurred more than two decades ago, Eric Bieniemy has a fairly extensive list of legal issues. He was cited at least eight times between 1988 and 2001, including harassment, a DUI, a bench warrant, traffic violations, a bar fight and interfering with a firefighter.
When interviewing for a head coaching job in the NFL, the organization looks at every aspect of the candidate's history. It all happened a long time ago, but could still potentially hurt him for potential job openings.
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