Eric Bieniemy accepts move to Washington Commanders

After 10 years with the Chiefs, Eric Bieniemy settled for a sort of lateral move to a team in the NFC.

After several years trying to work his way into position for a head coaching job somewhere in the National Football League, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has accepted a similar role in the NFC.

On Friday, it became official that the Washington Commanders had hired Bieniemy to be their offensive coordinator along with a new title of assistant head coach. He arrives with five years of experience in the same role with the league’s most successful team.

The new deal comes reportedly with a larger pay structure as well for Bieniemy.

Bieniemy has spent the last couple of days in Washington following the Chiefs’ victory parade in Kansas City celebrating the team’s Super Bowl LVII win over the Philadelphia Eagles. It was the second such win for the Chiefs in the last four years, which means head coach Ron Rivera is adding considerable postseason experience to his staff with this hiring.

Washington has been connected with Bieniemy in the past in multiple ways, and it was even rumored that he was the favorite for the head coaching role that Rivera now occupies. However, during the hiring process, Rivera was set free by the Carolina Panthers and took over the “favorite” role at that point.

Bieniemy just completed his tenth season on the Chiefs sidelines after also serving as running backs coach for five years before being promoted to the coordinator level. During that span, he’s interviewed with half of all NFL teams about head coach opportunities but never earned an official offer. Even this year, he interviewed with the Indianapolis Colts and had rumored interest from the Denver Broncos.

Once word leaked that Bieniemy might be amenable to a coordinator role on another team, several new teams entered the fray, including the Baltimore Ravens. However, the Commanders were also interested and apparently were first through the door.

Bieniemy has consistently maintained his desire and ambition to reach a head coaching platform within the NFL and perhaps, fair or not, this detour will allow him to do so.