Eric Bieniemy will reportedly interview with New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints are intent on interviewing Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, per ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler. It’s only the second interview on the books this offseason for Bieniemy, which is down considerably from each of the last two years at this time.

The Saints are moving on from Sean Payton who stepped away from his post after 16 seasons in the Big Easy.

The Saints are mid-stream in their head coaching interviews so far and they’ve talked to some familiar faces already. Former Chiefs coach Doug Pederson, who won a Super Bowl just a few years ago with the Philadelphia Eagles, is among the candidates. Former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is as well.

Eric Bieniemy will reportedly interview with New Orleans Saints

The Saints have also talked to their own defensive coordinator Dennis Allen as well as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Saints special teams coach Darren Rizzi was also included and others might be joining the search process as well.

As for Bieniemy, he had an interview with the Denver Broncos before the team hired Nathaniel Hackett to replace Vic Fangio. Before that, the Chiefs offensive coordinator had interviewed with half of the league’s franchises—some of them twice—as a promising head coach candidate in the last three seasons. Somehow, however, Bieniemy has remained available despite the number of interviews.

Bieniemy was recently named in a lawsuit from Flores against the NFL for unfair hiring practices against African-American head coaching candidates. Bieniemy was cited as an ideal example for the ways in which perfectly qualified candidates are being overlooked for no good reason, especially as lesser-qualified candidates are clearly favored.

Bieniemy has been with the Chiefs since the 2013 season as the running backs coach turned offensive coordinator.