clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Eric Bieniemy may not be leaving Chiefs after all

The NFL’s head-coaching carousel was rocked Tuesday morning, as the Carolina Panthers hired former Baylor coach Matt Rhule and the New York Giants went with former Patriots coach Joe Judge.

Kansas City Chiefs v Denver Broncos Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

The Kansas City Chiefs might not be losing their offensive coordinator after all.

The Carolina Panthers rocked the NFL’s head-coaching carousel on Tuesday, when news from Yahoo! Sports Pete Thamel broke that they were finalizing a deal to make Baylor’s Matt Rhule their next head coach.

The Panthers were one of three teams who reportedly interviewed current Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy last week. Bieniemy interviewed with the Panthers on Thursday, the Cleveland Browns on Friday and the New York Giants on Saturday.

Here is some additional insight from NBC Sports’ Peter King as to why Bieniemy was not the Panthers’ choice.

About two hours after Thamel’s report, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Giants had their head coach.

Patriots wide receivers coach and special teams coordinator Joe Judge will become the next head coach of the Giants, leaving the Browns job as the only other possibility for Bieniemy. The Washington Redskins hired former Panthers coach Ron Rivera earlier in the cycle and Mike McCarthy agreed to terms with the Dallas Cowboys on Monday.

The problem with Bieniemy getting the Browns position is that they are interested in a wide array of candidates.

From a mere numbers standpoint, that doesn’t favor Bieniemy. In addition, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is still scheduled to interview with the Browns on Friday.

With every other head-coaching job settled, the Browns can now take their time, as Schefter noted.

Bieniemy, 50, has been with the Chiefs ever since Andy Reid arrived to the team in 2013. Bieniemy spent five years as the team’s running backs coach (2013-17) before being promoted to offensive coordinator when Matt Nagy left to become the head coach of the Chicago Bears (2018), a position he has held for the last two seasons.

If Tuesday is any indication, anything can happen — but right now, it appears that for the second offseason in a row, Bieniemy will not become a head coach.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Arrowhead Pride Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of all your Kansas City Chiefs news from Arrowhead Pride