Eric Bieniemy faces offseason questions again after year with Commanders

With the close of the 2023 NFL regular season, a majority of franchises are licking their wounds and assigning blame. With that annual process comes the coaching carousel of leadership changes, and the Washington Commanders have already joined in on the fun.

The Commanders have decided to rid themselves of head coach Ron Rivera and it makes sense to question whether or not Eric Bieniemy was let go with him. After all, most staff members are given a pink slip along with the head coach who hired them, so even though Bieniemy was only in the nation's capital for a year, he could be looking for a new job ASAP.

Bieniemy was named offensive coordinator for the Commanders in 2023 after serving in the same role with the Kansas City Chiefs for the previous five seasons—from 2018-2022. After years of failed attempts to secure a head coaching gig in the NFL, he took a lateral move to bolster his resume away from Andy Reid and company. As for the Chiefs, they replaced Bieniemy with former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who himself has served under Reid in K.C. before leaving for the Windy City.

Now that Bieniemy is a free agent, he may earn more head coaching interviews this offseason, but it's also possible that Bieniemy will have to look for yet another coordinator job. Will K.C. extend some sort of lifeline? Will he head to a rival team? Anything is possible at this point.

What will happen to the former Chiefs coordinator this offseason?

At least Bieniemy seems comfortable with the uncertainty at this stage. Fair or not, Bieniemy is used to having to wait and see each and every offseason, and it's developed a patient wisdom in the storied coach. Reporters asked Bieniemy about his future plans earlier this month and he had the following to say:

"You know what, you live in the moment," said Bieniemy to reporters earlier this week. "The only thing I can think about and control is today. Right now, I’m out here having this press conference with you guys, spending this time and this moment with you. [When] we go back inside, we’ll have an opportunity to watch today’s practice …

"You can only live in the now and in this particular moment," he continued. You can’t worry about tomorrow. You can only take care of tomorrow when tomorrow gets here."

It will be interesting to see how the new owners in Washington will handle their first significant leadership decisions since taking over from Dan Snyder. Here's hoping they're fair to Bieniemy and others in the process.