For the second consecutive year, the Chiefs’ high-scoring offense is in the Super Bowl. For the second consecutive year, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is earning praise for his job at the helm of that offense. And for the second consecutive year, Bieniemy has been shut out of head-coaching jobs.
The news that the Texans hired David Culley to be their next head coach means that Bieniemy, who interviewed for all seven coaching vacancies this offseason, has been shut out again.
There was a sense from early in the offseason that Bieniemy would get passed over. No one disputes that he has all the credentials to get called up to a head-coaching job, and yet he still hasn’t.
Reaching the Super Bowl may have actually hurt Bieniemy’s chances. NFL teams aren’t allowed to hire coaches off another team’s staff until that team’s season is over, and teams sometimes decide not to wait for a coach in the Super Bowl. Bieniemy acknowledged last week that his primary focus has been on the Chiefs, not career advancement.
“It’s always good to be mentioned and have an opportunity to pursue your dreams. And obviously, yes, I do want to be a head coach,” Bieniemy said. “But when it’s all said and done with, my job is to make sure everything that we’re doing right now is not to take away from the goals we’re trying to accomplish. The only thing that matters [is] today we got better.”
Bieniemy’s focus remains on the Super Bowl, the game he keeps reaching while he keeps getting shut out of head coaching jobs.
