Alex Smith makes convincing case for why Chiefs’ Eric Bieniemy should be a head coach
Quarterback Alex Smith’s final season with the Chiefs was in 2017, but he hasn’t forgotten how much fun it was to play for offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
That’s why Smith, the Washington Football Team quarterback, is puzzled that Bieniemy may be passed over for an NFL head coaching job again.
Since the end of the regular season, Bieniemy has talked with a half-dozen teams, but as the Chiefs have progressed through the playoffs, he’s seen other men get hired. Now only the Houston Texans have an opening.
Bieniemy has made it clear he wants to be an NFL head coach, but this could be a third straight offseason in which he’s turned down.
While talking with former Kansas City Star reporter Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo Sports, Smith called it “ridiculous” that another team won’t make Bieniemy a head coach. Smith then made a convincing case for why Bieniemy should be hired.
“I know that the interview process is weird when the team is still in it (the playoffs),” Smith said on the Yahoo Sports NFL podcast. “But regardless, I don’t see how you can excuse it. I think Eric’s No. 1 quality, and it was apparent from the first day I met him, was his leadership. Leadership ability, a true leader of men. Here’s a guy that had played for a long time, was a great teacher, commanded respect because he gave respect, also.”
Smith said one of Bieniemy’s unique attributes is his hands-on approach.
“In the NFL sometimes you’ve got these good luck coaches, I feel like,” Smith said. “You’re about to take the field and they’ll tell you good luck, and for me I was like ‘Well, aren’t you going out there with us? Aren’t you in it with us?’ And for me, EB is the epitome of the opposite of that.
“If he could have strapped ‘em up and gone out there with me, he would, and I think that was something for me that I loved so much playing for him. I felt that like we were all going out there together, we were all in it together. He brought that energy every single day, the passion.”
Bieniemy has been with the Chiefs since 2013 and worked not only with Chiefs coach Andy Reid, but also two of his former offensive coordinators: Doug Pederson, the former Eagles head coach, and Matt Nagy, the Chicago Bears head coach.
Smith said Bieniemy has had his hands in all parts of the Chiefs offense.
“I think he’s a guy that there’s not a facet of the game on offense that he hasn’t been incredibly involved in, from protections to the run game to the pass game,” Smith said. “He knows it all. He knows this stuff and obviously to have been in that system, to have been kind of groomed or brought up with all those guys, certainly with Andy but certainly to see obviously Doug and Nags, I don’t see how you can be more ready.”
You can listen to the interview here.
Here’s the clip of Smith talking about Bieniemy:
