So, what is it about Eric Bieniemy that the guy doesn’t seem to get a job as an NFL coach?
The Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, whose LinkedIn profile should be tagged by all owners with a job opening, is instead struggling to get interviews. The Chiefs, champions of the Super Bowl thanks to an offense that owns the property rights in almost all the endzones of the league, are a victory to return to the Big Game.
But as the head coach positions are filled one by one (mostly by white guys, and often by young coaches fresh out of the qualification test), Bieniemy’s agents are attacking the owners on social media. Their guy is going to his third consecutive AFC Championship game, but the phone isn’t ringing.
In a league where the owners insist that winning is everything, the most winning candidate is being wiped out.
Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, distributing noogies, leaves a mark on the Eagles’ owner, Jeffrey Lurie, in his last rehearsal. Lurie, after firing Doug Pederson – the only Eagles coach to win a Super Bowl – is struggling to find a replacement, interviewing more people last week than the FBI.
Jenkins observed, uh, methodical research:
“Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said that when looking for a new coach, he is determined not to be in a hurry and” get to know the person in the best possible way. ” Meanwhile, on Tuesday, he interviewed Kellen Moore, 32, who has been a coach for just two years and can’t even get to know each other. “
Bieniemy “blew up the collective coverage of the owners and exposed his moral cowardice, just going to work every day,” writes Jenkins.
The rap against Bieniemy seems to be that he doesn’t call the shots, but, Jenkins points out, “ex- [Reid] subordinates John Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Frank Reich and Matt Nagy also never called for Reid’s plays. Even so, the owners found enough certainty in their hearts to hire them anyway. “
Another guy who hasn’t called moves? Duce Staley, Pederson’s black assistant coach and running back trainer, who has been passed over several times for the Eagles coach. Staley apparently remains in the race, with the support of many current Eagles players, who have been texting and calling Lurie on Staley’s behalf.
Staley or Bieniemy – whom the Eagles insist they want to interview – may eventually get the job, but not until Lurie, like other contracting owners, tries to convince fans that their search is for “vision” – and that vision, of course, it is color blind.
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