According to Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, the Philadelphia Eagles never formally requested an interview with Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Contrary to some headlines that have begun making the rounds, however, the team did speak with Reid about Bieniemy. The Eagles were told by Reid that they would be allowed to interview Bieniemy the following week. Says Reid,
“There was no formal interview form sent in. They had talked early about it, but there was nothing formally sent in.”
During that time, however, the team had two interviews with and eventually hired Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni.
Reid has expressed disappointment with Bieniemy being passed over for head coaching vacancies over the last two years, saying,
“Am I upset? Yeah. I’m a big fan of his and I know what he can help do for a team, and most of all, for the National Football League. I think he’s so deserving of that opportunity. I’m hoping someday it comes.
I was expecting it last year and it didn’t happen. I definitely thought it would happen this year and it didn’t happen.”
Despite being the offensive coordinator for one of the league’s best offenses over the last two years while also about to coach in his second straight Super Bowl, Bieniemy has now been passed over for 12 head coach openings. The Panthers (Matt Rhule), Browns (Kevin Stefanski), Cowboys (Mike McCarthy), and Giants (Joe Judge) passed on Bieniemy last season, while the Falcons (Arthur Smith), Lions (Dan Campbell), Texans (David Culley), Jaguars (Urban Meyer), Chargers (Brandon Staley), Jets (Robert Saleh), and Eagles (Nick Sirianni) hired other candidates in 2021.
Of those hires, Robert Saleh is Arab-American and David Culley is Black. The other nine are all white. For a league that is attempting to promote diversity, this is a troubling trend.
There are no confirmed reports as to why exactly Bieniemy is not getting any of these jobs, but there are a number of rumblings. The most prevalent two reasons are 1. That the Chiefs have advanced far in the NFL playoffs the last two seasons, making it difficult for teams to interview and hire him, and 2. That this is Andy Reid’s offense playcalling, and Bieniemy’s contributions are unclear.
There have also been whispers that Bieniemy has not been interviewing well when he has gotten the chance to speak to NFL teams, and we talked in this space a few weeks about potential red flags in Eric Bieniemy’s past that could be coming up in these discussions. No team has publicly expressed any concern with the items in those reports, however, and nearly all of them were decades ago.
Whatever the reasons, the question about why a dozen teams have passed over the Black offensive coordinator of one of the league’s best offenses two years in a row will now continue for another year. And teams like the Eagles that chose not to even interview him will continue to receive criticism.
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Mike Maher is the editor and publisher of The Birds Blitz. Follow him on Twitter @mikeMaher and @TheBirdsBlitz and check out his archive for all of his latest stories about the Eagles and the NFL.
