Chiefs’ Tyrann Mathieu makes case for why Eric Bieniemy should be an NFL head coach
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote a letter to the league’s 32 teams on Friday, chastising them for the lack of progress in promoting diversity among head coaches.
“We have made significant efforts to promote diversity and adopted numerous policies and programs which have produced positive change in many areas; however, we must acknowledge that particularly with respect to head coaches the results have been unacceptable,” Goodell wrote.
That comes in the wake of former Dolphins coach Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL which charges racial discrimination. That lawsuit uses as evidence Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s inability to get a head-coaching job despite repeated interviews with teams.
Bieniemy interviewed with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Bieniemy spoke with the Saints for nearly eight hours.
Ahead of the Pro Bowl, Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu was interviewed by Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network. Mathieu talked about a lack of diversity among NFL head coaches and made a case for why Bieniemy deserves to lead a team.
“Obviously, you had the feeling a couple of years ago that things were beginning to change,” Mathieu said. “Maybe here and there things have changed. But I think overall there’s still a lot of great black coaches that seem to get left out and get overlooked.
“Obviously Eric Bieniemy, I know him personally, being a part of a team with him the last few years and just watching the way that he inspires us and motivates us. And even X’s and O’s, he’s a great coach. He’s coached a lot of great players and you just want the best for everybody.”
Here is the interview, which also touched on some Pro Bowl subjects.
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 10:56 AM.
