Patrick Mahomes: Eric Bieniemy’s lack of head coach offers is ‘crazy’
By Matt Conner
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes says “it’s crazy” that offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has been passed over for head coaching opportunities.
Patrick Mahomes thought for a second about his word choice before coming up with “crazy.” It’s that word, he says, that probably best summarizes the plight of Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who looks like he is getting passed over, once again, for every head coach opening in the National Football League.
This offseason, seven NFL teams had vacancies to lead their respective rosters on the field and all seven were linked to Bieniemy in one way or another. Most of them conducted interviews with Bieniemy or at least indicated an interest to do so. The rest were early odds-on favorites before completely shifting in a different direction (e.g. Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans).
On Friday, Mahomes answered questions from reporters about a number of topics—most notably his health—but Bieniemy’s job search was brought up and Mahomes gave an obvious glowing review.
"“It’s crazy, I guess, would be the best word to describe it,” said Mahomes. “I mean, to see the stuff that comes out and then knowing the man that he is and the coach that he is every single day, you don’t understand where this stuff comes from. You understand how great of a coach he is, how great of a person he is, how great of a leader he is.“And so, it’s crazy that he hasn’t gotten his chance to be a head coach, but I promise you he’ll keep grinding and keep getting better and better, and keep helping us out, which is the positive at the end of the day, and hopefully help us go to these AFC Championship games and hopefully more Super Bowls.”"
It’s possible that the Texans will circle back around to Bieniemy for their opening, given that the position is still technically open. At one point, Bieniemy felt obvious for the role as the early odds-on favorite. Deshaun Watson was actively asked about having Bieniemy as a head coach as the team’s quarterback, and even Romeo Crennel, the team’s interim coach, spoke positively about him. Then the winds began to shift and the team never even requested an interview with Bieniemy until late in their process. Yet even now, they continue to chat with others, including Jim Caldwell and Josh McCown most recently.
At this point, Houston looks like a fairly dysfunctional franchise with a toxic culture that has Watson frustrated. Perhaps it’s good that Bieniemy could be passed over for that specific role. As for the rest of the opportunities lost, it is “crazy.” Bieniemy has been a right-hand man for a Hall of Fame coach and is a strong leader of men who comes with glowing recs and years of experience in a top-shelf organization.
Hopefully Mahomes is right and Bieniemy can add a few more accolades to make his availability seem even more absurd.