Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is a name we shouldn't forget | Opinion
In February for Black History Month, Paste BN Sports is publishing the series 28 Black Stories in 28 Days. We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race two years ago.
The NFL's head coach hiring season came and went. Once again, the man who is possibly the best offensive coordinator in football didn't get one of those jobs.
His name is Eric Bieniemy.
You've heard the name. You know it well. The point I'm making is we shouldn't forget it. It's easy to do so. It's easy to forget he's been the coordinator for one of the best pure quarterbacking talents in the sport in Patrick Mahomes. It's easy to forget how much Kansas City has won or how consistently good that offense is.
It's easy to attribute that success to coach Andy Reid, a future Hall of Famer, and of course, he deserves a great deal of credit for what the Chiefs have done. But so does Bieniemy. He's been a significant part of Mahomes' development as the team hasn't finished below sixth in total offense the past four years with Bieniemy as coordinator.
Bieniemy will return to the team after interviewing with only two franchises, the Broncos and Saints, this past offseason.
What is happening with Bieniemy? Why isn't he getting a job?
Is it that he will follow Reid once Reid retires? Is it that teams just don't want to hire Bieniemy for whatever reason? Is one of those reasons because Bieniemy is Black?
Bieniemy not getting hired (at this point) will go down as one of the great mysteries of this era.
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What's happening to Bieniemy is particularly interesting when you see some other hires around the league, even on the Kansas City staff itself. The team just hired former Bears head coach Matt Nagy as senior assistant and quarterbacks coach.
This is the type of hire some (especially Black coaches) give the hardcore side-eye. Nagy was mostly a failure in Chicago and showed little ability to groom quarterbacking talent, but he ends up with one of the best jobs in the NFL: coaching Mahomes.
So as Bieniemy returns to Kansas City, and likely next season will again be part of a good offense that likely will again be dominant, just don't forget.
Just don't forget the name Bieniemy.