The last head coaching position in the NFL was filled on Wednesday and is likely to be conflicting for Andy Reid.
Taking over from the Houston Texans was David Culley, the associate head coach, passing game coordinator and wide receiver coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Culley’s career as an NFL assistant goes back almost three decades, most of which he worked under Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
Eric Bieniemy, the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, did not accept the Texans position, or any other position. Bieniemy has worked with Reid for the past eight seasons, with three seasons as coordinator of the NFL’s most feared attack.
Culley and Bieniemy did not face each other exactly for the work of the Texans. Bieniemy was not among the three coaches to get a second interview in Houston, and he appeared to have gotten his first interview only after Deshaun Watson expressed his complaints about the team’s hiring practices. Culley’s signing, however, ensured that Bieniemy will not be an NFL coach next season, except for a shocking development elsewhere.
When asked about this development, Reid was openly disappointed as his Chiefs team prepared for the Super Bowl LV:
“I’m happy to have you [for at least another season], but I’m not so happy to have it, ”said Reid on Thursday, after the Chiefs started training for the Super Bowl LV against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I really hoped he would have the opportunity to take one of those jobs. You know what I think of him. I think he’s great. I think he would be great for any number of teams that opened up and helped them win football games and also develop men into men. I just think he’s a great person. “
At the same press conference, Reid also praised Culley and the time they spent together:
“David will do a good job,” said Reid. “He’s a sociable person. It will bring energy to the building. One of the most loyal guys I’ve ever met. He is a great person. We had been together for 18 years. We ate some cheeseburgers together. ”
Reid’s praise for Culley echoes what almost everyone close to the longtime assistant said about him, but it seems unlikely that his endorsement will alter the perception that Texans don’t know what they are doing.
Did the Texans hire Andy Reid’s wrong disciple?
If you only evaluate coaching candidates on paper, it’s not hard to see why some are perplexed that Culley is Andy Reid’s assistant receiving a coaching position this off-season.
Bieniemy’s experience in coordinating the strongest unit of a possible two-time Super Bowl champion makes him the obvious candidate for head coach in football. There is no type of assistant more attractive to teams than a promising offensive coordinator.
In the meantime, Culley’s resume almost looks set to become a copy for those who hate Texans. The pass game coordinator and wide receivers train the team with the least productive pass and wide receivers game in the NFL. Josh Allen’s quarterback coach when Josh Allen was still a joke to some. The Chiefs ‘wide receivers coach when the Chiefs’ wide receivers spent an entire season without a touchdown. 65 years old, the first oldest head coach in NFL history.
Of course, being a successful chief technician is much more than experience in coordinating and producing units. Culley’s early analysis indicates that it is in these facets that he shines, but they are also difficult to use in defending a Texan chief who has completely hampered his decision making recently.
Texans are just one of several teams that have gone through Bieniemy in the past two years, but being the last team to do so and bringing in an outsider like Culley always required scrutiny. Time will tell if Culley’s signing was an astute move – it didn’t do much to convince Watson to stay – but unfortunately we will have to wait even longer to see how Bieniemy fares as the head coach.
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Originally published