KC Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy shut out of head coach-hiring cycle again
The nine-stop NFL coaching carousel for this offseason is now complete.
With Eric Bieniemy left out once again.
The Saints are set to hire their own defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, to replace Sean Payton, according to ESPN, the final of nine franchises to hire head coaches in this year’s cycle.
Bieniemy, the Chiefs offensive coordinator for the past four seasons, interviewed with the Saints on Sunday. But it did not result in a job offer.
Again.
Since taking over as the Chiefs offensive coordinator, Bieniemy has received 15 interviews for head-coaching vacancies — four in 2019, three in 2020, six in 2021 and two more this year — but they’ve all resulted in the same outcome. Bieniemy interviewed with the Broncos earlier this month, but they hired Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett instead.
Bieniemy’s contract with the Chiefs expires this month. He signed a one-year contract with the team after last year’s Super Bowl.
Although Chiefs head coach Andy Reid controls the reigns on the team’s offense, he’s been a vocal advocate for Bieniemy to earn a promotion within the league. The Chiefs have finished first, fifth, sixth and fourth in points scored since Bieniemy assumed the role of offensive coordinator in Kansas City.
“It disappoints me that someone hasn’t hired him, obviously, because he’s so good,” Reid said during the Chiefs’ playoff run, which ended with a loss to the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game eight days ago.
Reid had expressed optimism this would be the season in which the opportunity would find Bieniemy, but the Saints represented the last of the league’s openings. The Texans also filled their vacancy Monday, promoting defensive coordinator Lovie Smith. Smith and new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel are the lone minority hires of the cycle. Smith is Black; McDaniel is multi-racial.
Bieniemy has often skirted direct questions about his candidacy to be an NFL head coach, citing the timing in which the questions arrive — during the Chiefs season or postseason — though that’s when his name re-emerges in the conversation annually.
“I think I would bring a lot to the table,” Bieniemy said before the Chiefs played the Bills in the AFC Divisional Round, adding. “I’m grateful to be thought of in that particular light, but my job is to make sure we stay focused.”
Bieniemy’s inability to land a head coach job has long been a talking point as the ineffectiveness of the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires organizations to interview at least one diverse candidate before filling such vacancies. It was recently mentioned in a discrimination lawsuit against the league fired by recently-fired Dolphins coach Brian Flores.
“Without question, Mr. Bieniemy has the pedigree, track record and reputation to make him a sought-after Head Coach,” Flores’ lawsuit states.
Flores also previously interviewed for the Saints job but concludes this year’s cycle without a head-coaching opportunity.
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 6:30 PM.