It was another yr through which the Chiefs’ offense seemed dominant en path to their second Super Bowl in 4 seasons. Missouri’s solely NFL group has hosted a convention championship recreation every of the final 5 seasons and was defeated in regulation zero occasions. Patrick Mahomes will get the spoils as the finest quarterback in the recreation and conversations have already begun at 27 that he’s already a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Andy Reid went from strong coach and nice individual to thought of amongst the best to ever tow a sideline. Where’s the confetti for Kansas City 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 trip has accomplished, with Bienemy interviewing and never being provided a head teaching job in the NFL, whereas these with much less expertise and fewer success bounce the line. It’s not a matter of whether or not Bienemy might be a head coach. Does anybody see a yr one on any group beneath him going as badly as Nathaniel Hackett’s tenure in Denver? If you’d somewhat have the present Jets’ offensive coordinator operating your group, be my visitor. On planet Earth, Bienemy wouldn’t let any state of affairs deteriorate that shortly. 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 moving into the NFL’s head teaching fraternity. First can be the greater danger, greater reward choice of leaving the Chiefs. Leaving an superb state of affairs in Kansas City 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 group’s double-digit Super Bowl LVII comeback over the Eagles, not the group’s offensive coordinator. Going to a group like the Commanders, who’ve proven public curiosity in buying Bienemy’s providers, would expose his talents as a play caller. Washington head coach Ron Rivera is clearly a defensive-minded coach, leaving Bienemy on an island on the subject of operating the offense. With an honest quantity of expertise in the nation’s capital, how he’d elevate Sam Howell can be an amazing 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 actuality for Bienemy.
The solely different choice, after a number of head-coaching cycles passing him by, can be outlasting Reid’s tenure in Kansas City and taking on for his present boss — getting Mahomes and Reid handy him the job as finest they’ll. Bienemy clearly has the correct assist from Kansas City’s entrance workplace. And with no indicators of Reid slowing down at 64, that could be a protracted wait, regardless of how strongly the two-time Super 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 similar leeway, and he’s become the posterboy(man) for the inequities in the NFL’s head teaching ranks.
What’s the cause Bienemy retains getting handed over?
The record of allegations from Bienemy’s time as a operating again at Colorado to changing 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 cause sufficient to not rent him as a head coach, however let’s not faux he’d be the just one with an unsavory previous who has had the probability to helm an NFL group. Do we overlook Urban Meyer that shortly? Some questioned if Bienemy would bounce 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 group to a Super Bowl earlier than his present stint in Ann Arbor. Bienemy doesn’t have any heading teaching expertise on his resume.
Pretending Bienemy’s circumstances might 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 in every of the league’s 32 head coaches. And he was handed over greater than a dozen occasions since the Chiefs’ 2020 Super Bowl victory. Even if Kansas City doesn’t win one other title subsequent season, who doubts its offense received’t look spectacular? And that might be partly attributable to Bienemy.
On paper, leaving the Chiefs for a increase and a brand new alternative would do the trick. Then you must do not forget that the folks hiring head coaches received’t change, even when Bienemy leads Washington to playoff success in an simpler convention. And if none with vacancies over the final three years would rent him, he’ll have to attend for Clark Hunt to advertise him. And Bienemy might be properly overdue when that day comes.
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