The Eagles asked for permission to interview Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for the opening as head coach, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Saturday afternoon.
Bieniemy, considered one of the main candidates for the position of coach for several years, was Doug Pederson’s teammate in Andy Reid’s Eagles in 1999 and holds the same position now with the Chiefs – offensive coordinator – that Pederson occupied when the Eagles hired. Kansas City after the 2015 season.
Bieniemy, 51, has been Reid’s offensive coordinator for three years and, during that time, the Chiefs takes first place in the NFL in points, yards and yards per move. They are the best 38-10 in the NFL during that period (tied with the Saints) with a Super Bowl championship last year.
The Eagles cannot interview Bieniemy until the Chiefs lose or even a week before the Super Bowl. They face the Browns in Kansas on Sunday.
Bieniemy played college football in Colorado and was chosen for the Chargers’ second round in 1991. He spent nine years in the NFL, mostly with the Chargers and Bengals, but ended his career with the Eagles in 1999, Reid’s first year as main technician.
If he is hired, he will become the 11th former assistant to Reid to become the head coach of the NFL and the ninth player or coach of the 1999 Eagles.
Bieniemy trained in Colorado and UCLA before getting his first job in the NFL in 2006 as a running back trainer for the Vikings under Brad Childress, who had coached the Eagles’ quarterbacks in 1999 under Reid. Childress gave him the title of assistant coach in 2010, and Bieniemy ended that season by training Leslie Frazier, another former Reid coach, when Childress was fired.
Bieniemy returned to Colorado as an offensive coordinator in 2011 and 2012 under Jon Embree before Reid hired him in 2013 as a running back trainer on his first Chiefs staff. In his five years in this role, the Chiefs ranked 7th in the NFL in running yards and second with 4.6 yards per load.
When the Bears hired Matt Nagy as head coach after the 2017 season, Reid promoted Bieniemy to offensive coordinator.
During the Chiefs’ farewell week as the seed in the AFC playoffs, Bieniemy interviewed the Texans and Falcons, and has also been linked to debuts with Chargers, Jaguars, Falcons and Jets.
With the Jets hiring 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, the Jaguars hiring former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, the Falcons hiring Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and the Lions closing the coach’s hiring process of the Saints, Dan Campbell, the only teams still without coaches are Texans, porters and eagles.
Over the past two years, Bieniemy has interviewed for previous positions as head coach of the Jets, Giants, Dolphins, Bengals, Buccaneers, Panthers and Browns without receiving an offer.
The Eagles have already interviewed Saleh, Smith, longtime Eagles assistant coach Duce Staley, Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Patriots linebacker coach Jerod Mayo for the job as head coach.
Other candidates they have requested interviews with are Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
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