It was one other yr wherein the Chiefs’ offense seemed dominant en path to their second Tremendous Bowl in 4 seasons. Missouri’s solely NFL staff has hosted a convention championship recreation every of the final 5 seasons and was defeated in regulation zero instances. Patrick Mahomes will get the spoils as one of the best quarterback within the recreation and conversations have already begun at 27 that he’s already a first-ballot Corridor of Famer. Andy Reid went from a stable coach and nice particular person to being thought-about among the many biggest to ever tow a sideline. The place’s the confetti for Kansas Metropolis offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy?
The window for Bienemy to be a head coach in 2023 has closed
With Jonathan Gannon being named the Arizona Cardinals head coach on Tuesday, one other offseason NFL head teaching carousel experience has accomplished, with Bienemy interviewing and never being provided a head teaching job within the NFL, whereas these with much less expertise and fewer success soar the road. It’s not a matter of whether or not Bienemy might be a head coach. Does anybody see a yr one on any staff below him going as badly as Nathaniel Hackett’s tenure in Denver? For those who’d relatively have the present Jets’ offensive coordinator working your staff, be my visitor. On planet Earth, Bienemy wouldn’t let any state of affairs deteriorate that rapidly. And it’s clear that chance isn’t going to occur with out one thing drastic altering for him.
There look like two choices for Bienemy to get into the NFL’s head teaching fraternity. First could be the upper danger, increased reward possibility of leaving the Chiefs. Leaving an excellent state of affairs in Kansas Metropolis to run an offense would separate his accomplishments from Reid, as an alternative of sharing or freely giving a majority of the credit score. FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen shouted out Reid for the selections that led to the staff’s double-digit Tremendous Bowl LVII comeback over the Eagles, not the staff’s offensive coordinator. Going to a staff just like the Commanders, who’ve proven public curiosity in buying Bienemy’s providers, would expose his skills as a play caller. Washington head coach Ron Rivera is clearly a defensive-minded coach, leaving Bienemy on an island in the case of working the offense. With a good quantity of expertise within the nation’s capital, how he’d elevate Sam Howell could be a fantastic signal of how he’d carry out as a head coach. Then once more, others have been employed with much less proof, however that’s simply not the fact for Bienemy.
The one different possibility, after a number of head-coaching cycles handed him by, could be outlasting Reid’s tenure in Kansas Metropolis and taking up for his present boss — getting Mahomes and Reid handy him the job as greatest they’ll. Bienemy clearly has the right help from Kansas Metropolis’s entrance workplace. And with no indicators of Reid slowing down at 64, that is perhaps an extended wait, regardless of how strongly the two-time Tremendous Bowl-winning head coach thinks of his star pupil. It’s an odd juxtaposition, as a result of Reid was named the Eagles’ head coach over twenty years in the past with none play-calling expertise. Bienemy seemingly received’t get the identical leeway, and he’s develop into the poster boy (man) for the inequities within the NFL’s head teaching ranks.
What’s the rationale Bienemy retains getting handed over?
The record of allegations from Bienemy’s time as a working again at Colorado to turning into a collegiate coach is troubling, together with allegedly grabbing a feminine parking attendant by the neck and threatening her in 1993. Not having an ideal document is purpose sufficient to not rent him as a head coach, however let’s not faux he’d be the one one with an unsavory previous who has had the prospect to helm an NFL staff. Will we neglect City Meyer that rapidly? Some puzzled if Bienemy would soar again to the faculty ranks when the Buffaloes’ job opened up a couple of months again. Colorado ended up hiring Deion Sanders. Even so, Jim Harbaugh’s flirtation with going again to the NFL and leaving Michigan behind has far more credence, as a result of he’s led a staff to a Tremendous Bowl earlier than his present stint in Ann Arbor. Bienemy doesn’t have any heading teaching expertise on his resume.
Pretending Bienemy’s circumstances will likely be a lot completely different subsequent yr when one other teaching carousel begins is silly. He did greater than sufficient to show he was worthy by NFL requirements a very long time in the past to be one of many league’s 32 head coaches. And he was handed over greater than a dozen instances for the reason that Chiefs’ 2020 Tremendous Bowl victory. Even when Kansas Metropolis doesn’t win one other title subsequent season, who doubts its offense received’t look spectacular? And that will likely be partially because of Bienemy.
On paper, leaving the Chiefs for a increase and a brand new alternative would do the trick. Then it’s important to keep in mind that the individuals hiring head coaches received’t change, even when Bienemy leads Washington to playoff success in a better convention. And if none with vacancies during the last three years would rent him, he’ll have to attend for Clark Hunt to advertise him. And Bienemy will likely be properly overdue when that day comes.
