Raiders fans, media members think Chiefs’ Eric Bieniemy should replace Jon Gruden
The Raiders suddenly have a coaching vacancy to fill.
Jon Gruden resigned Monday night in the wake of a New York Times story that showed he used homophobic and misogynistic language in emails to Bruce Allen when Allen was Washington’s president. Emails were sent as recently as 2018.
Special teams coach Rich Bisaccia will take over as interim coach for the Raiders. But one name being mentioned as a possible replacement for Gruden is Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who has interviewed for multiple head-coaching jobs over the last few years.
Bieniemy never landed an NFL head-coaching job, but some see him as a good fit in Las Vegas.
The Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer listed Bieniemy as the top candidate to be hired as the next Raiders coach.
“This might be a prime chance to get his long overdue promotion from Andy Reid’s staff with the Chiefs’ AFC West arch rivals,” Iyer wrote. “Las Vegas should want to take a page from Kansas City’s success around Patrick Mahomes and work to install a more dynamic offense that makes better use of tight end Darren Waller and its young speedy and quick wide receivers.”
The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore listed Bieniemy as one of the top candidates to replace Gruden on a full-time basis.
He wrote in part: “His work under Andy Reid in Kansas City is indisputable .... and his time clearly is coming.”
Raiders fans and others also saw Bieniemy as a good choice to lead the team.
This story was originally published October 12, 2021 at 9:43 AM.
