New York Jets begin Eric Bieniemy’s interview parade
By Matt Conner
The interview parade has begun for Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who started his run with the New York Jets.
Eric Bieniemy might be the single hottest name on the National Football League’s coaching circuit if judging by the number of rumored opportunities coming his way for interviews.
The Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator has been mentioned in conjunction with five of the eight job openings at head coach in NFL. On Wednesday, as the Chiefs enjoy a bye week thanks to their standing atop the AFC, Bieniemy is using his downtime to interview for various head coaching opportunities, starting with the New York Jets.
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The Jets confirmed their first interview with Bieniemy on Wednesday as the team seeks someone to replace Todd Bowles, who has coached the Jets for the last four years. The Jets won 10 games in his first season but could never reach .500 after that. In fact, the Jets lost 11 games or more in each of Bowles’ last three seasons in New York. Bowles was let go earlier this week.
Bieniemy has only been at the coordinator level for a single season at the pro level after taking over for Matt Nagy in the OC role for the Chiefs in 2018. Prior to that, he was the team’s positional coach for running backs for Andy Reid since 2013. Despite the lack of coordinator experience, he has been around Reid’s offense and leadership for over half a decade. He was also a coordinator at his alma mater, the University of Colorado.
Under his leadership, the Chiefs set historic marks for scoring this season. The Chiefs put up 565 points in 2018, 81 more than any other season in franchise history and 38 more than the next team on the NFL’s list (L.A. Rams).
Following his interview with the Jets, where he would inherit the gift of a franchise quarterback in Sam Darnold, Bieniemy will be interviewing for the head coaching role with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and, perhaps, the Cincinnati Bengals, who just entered the fray after firing longtime head coach Marvin Lewis. The Arizona Cardinals were also interested but Bieniemy decided against interviewing there.