Eric Bieniemy’s lack of head coaching offers is a travesty

Eric Bieniemy better offers long ago, and it’s a travesty that he’s in the position that he is.

Eric Bieniemy is one of, if not the most, highly-decorated coordinators in the NFL. Since taking over the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator station in 2018, his offenses have been ranked number one twice in points, three times in yards, and no lower than sixth in either of those categories. He has two Super Bowl rings and three AFC Titles to his name and won the 2020 Sporting News Coordinator Of The Year.

Most recently, Bieniemy’s offense ranked number one in both yards and points despite losing one of the most prolific weapons in the league (Tyreek Hill) in the offseason. Despite all of his accolades and qualifications, he has rarely been mentioned for any 2023 head coaching opportunities. So what gives?

Take into consideration the hiring of former Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. He has only been an offensive coordinator for three seasons. One with the Los Angeles Chargers and two with the Philadelphia Eagles.  His one year with the Bolts in 2020 saw his offense ranked ninth in total yards and 18th in points scored despite having Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Austin Ekeler. That was apparently good enough to have Steichen move on to the Philadelphia Eagles job. Steichen’s Philly offense ranked 12th in points and 14th in yards in 2021 before improving to third in each category last year. Last I checked, third place is lower than first place, but Steichen managed to pick up the Indianapolis Colts head coach opening anyway.

Steichen’s former colleague Jonathan Gannon was also selected for a head coaching opportunity over EB. Gannon has held a coordinator spot for only two years, both with Philadelphia. In those two years, his defenses ranked 18th in points and 10th in yards in 2021 before improving to eighth in points and second in yards in 2022. That improvement, while impressive, may have had more to do with the Eagles’ schedule than with Gannon’s defensive acumen. This was proved in the Super Bowl where Gannon’s allegedly vaunted defense did not register a sack on Patrick Mahomes on one leg, That defense also allowed Mahomes to complete all but one of his passes in the second half and the Chiefs’ offense to score on every single possession after halftime. Despite the fat “L” Bieniemy’s offense handed him, Gannon had Arizona’s offer in hand by the time Super Bowl LVII ended.

Stop me if you have heard this one before: the Denver Broncos made a splashy trade in the offseason. The Broncos pulled the trigger to trade their 2023 first-round and 2024 second-round picks to the New Orleans Saints for head coach Sean Payton. Similar to last year’s ill-fated trade for Russell “Mr. Unlimited” Wilson, the buzz surrounding this trade has been positive. Surely, Payton, the legendary quarterback whisperer will be the key to breaking the Broncos’ streaks of seven straight seasons of missing the playoffs and 15 consecutive losses to Kansas City! Well, about that.

There is another coach in the NFL that has Payton’s credentials and fans of that team are already sick of him. He has won a Super Bowl with a Hall of Fame lock at quarterback. He is also only one game over .500 in the playoffs despite winning in the regular season over 60% of the time, and he is also on his second team. That man is Mike McCarthy. Grateful as I am to not see EB go to our division (ahem) rival, it is incredibly hard to justify hiring a retread like Mike McCarthy 2.0 over Bieniemy.

Bieniemy is a leader of men, as any Chief player or coach will tell you. Listening to him coach up his guys on the sideline makes me want to run through a wall for him, and I’m just sitting on my couch. EB has the credentials, experience, and temperament to be a head coach in the NFL, yet has been continuously passed over by coaches with one-third of his resume.

As he takes a new position with the Washington Commanders—a lateral move to be their offensive coordinator with at least some better pay and some reported future considerations for more—we can only hope Bieniemy proves everyone wrong, as a talented and hungry leader who was waiting to be discovered right here in Kansas City. We all know who he is and what he is about. It is nothing short of a travesty that no one else seemed to.