How does the Chiefs’ Eric Bienemy turn into an NFL head coach?

It was one other 12 months by which the Chiefs’ offense looked dominant en path to their second Tremendous Bowl in 4 seasons. Missouri’s solely NFL staff has hosted a convention championship recreation every of the final 5 seasons and was defeated in regulation zero instances. Patrick Mahomes will get the spoils as the very best quarterback within the recreation and conversations have already begun at 27 that he’s already a first-ballot Corridor of Famer. Andy Reid went from a strong coach and nice individual to being thought of among the many best to ever tow a sideline. The place’s the confetti for Kansas Metropolis offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy?

The window for Bienemy to be a head coach in 2023 has closed

With Jonathan Gannon being named the Arizona Cardinals head coach on Tuesday, one other offseason NFL head teaching carousel journey has accomplished, with Bienemy interviewing and never being provided a head teaching job within the NFL, while those with less experience and fewer success bounce the road. It’s not a matter of whether or not Bienemy could possibly be a head coach. Does anybody see a 12 months one on any staff below him going as badly as Nathaniel Hackett’s tenure in Denver? In case you’d slightly have the present Jets’ offensive coordinator working your staff, be my visitor. On planet Earth, Bienemy wouldn’t let any scenario deteriorate that shortly. And it’s clear that chance isn’t going to occur with out one thing drastic altering for him.

There seem like two choices for Bienemy to get into the NFL’s head teaching fraternity. First could be the upper danger, greater reward choice of leaving the Chiefs. Leaving a perfect scenario in Kansas Metropolis to run an offense would separate his accomplishments from Reid, as an alternative of sharing or giving freely a majority of the credit score. FOX’s Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen shouted out Reid for the choices that led to the staff’s double-digit Tremendous Bowl LVII comeback over the Eagles, not the staff’s offensive coordinator. Going to a staff just like the Commanders, who’ve proven public curiosity in acquiring Bienemy’s services, would expose his skills as a play caller. Washington head coach Ron Rivera is clearly a defensive-minded coach, leaving Bienemy on an island on the subject of working the offense. With a good quantity of expertise within the nation’s capital, how he’d elevate Sam Howell could be an amazing signal of how he’d carry out as a head coach. Then once more, others have been employed with much less proof, however that’s simply not the truth for Bienemy.

The one different choice, after a number of head-coaching cycles handed him by, could be outlasting Reid’s tenure in Kansas Metropolis and taking up for his present boss — getting Mahomes and Reid at hand him the job as finest they’ll. Bienemy clearly has the right assist from Kansas Metropolis’s entrance workplace. And with no indicators of Reid slowing down at 64, that is likely to be a protracted wait, regardless of how strongly the two-time Tremendous Bowl-winning head coach thinks of his star pupil. It’s an odd juxtaposition, as a result of Reid was named the Eagles’ head coach over 20 years in the past with none play-calling expertise. Bienemy seemingly received’t get the identical leeway, and he’s turn into the poster boy (man) for the inequities within the NFL’s head teaching ranks.

What’s the rationale Bienemy retains getting handed over?

The list of allegations from Bienemy’s time as a working again at Colorado to turning into a collegiate coach is troubling, together with allegedly grabbing a feminine parking attendant by the neck and threatening her in 1993. Not having an ideal report is cause sufficient to not rent him as a head coach, however let’s not fake he’d be the one one with an unsavory previous who has had the possibility to helm an NFL staff. Will we overlook City Meyer that shortly? Some questioned if Bienemy would bounce again to the faculty ranks when the Buffaloes’ job opened up a number of months again. Colorado ended up hiring Deion Sanders. Even so, Jim Harbaugh’s flirtation with going again to the NFL and leaving Michigan behind has rather more credence, as a result of he’s led a staff to a Tremendous Bowl earlier than his present stint in Ann Arbor. Bienemy doesn’t have any heading teaching expertise on his resume.

Pretending Bienemy’s circumstances will likely be a lot totally different subsequent 12 months when one other teaching carousel begins is silly. He did greater than sufficient to show he was worthy by NFL requirements a very long time in the past to be one of many league’s 32 head coaches. And he was handed over greater than a dozen instances because the Chiefs’ 2020 Tremendous Bowl victory. Even when Kansas Metropolis doesn’t win one other title subsequent season, who doubts its offense received’t look spectacular? And that will likely be partially on account of Bienemy.

On paper, leaving the Chiefs for a increase and a brand new alternative would do the trick. Then it’s a must to do not forget that the individuals hiring head coaches received’t change, even when Bienemy leads Washington to playoff success in a better convention. And if none with vacancies over the past three years would rent him, he’ll have to attend for Clark Hunt to advertise him. And Bienemy will likely be properly overdue when that day comes.