The NFL coaching carousel has stopped spinning and once again, Eric Bieniemy has been left out.
Patrick Mahomes will benefit by getting to keep his offensive coordinator, but that doesn’t make the Chiefs quarterback any less bewildered by yet another Bieniemy snub.
“It amazes me, honestly,” Mahomes said Thursday on the “Dan Patrick Show.”
“The first year, you kind of were like, ‘All right, it’s just his first cycle through.’ Then last year, the interviews, you’re like, ‘For sure he’s gonna get a job.’ Then this year.
“If you look at his track record and the way he’s able to coach us, the way he’s able to lead men — people say that, but to be able to lead a locker room of people from every different background, every different race and everything like that, and be able to be the lead of the locker room is a special talent. It’s a talent, and he’s able to do that.”
The coaching cycle came to a close Wednesday night when the Texans reportedly hired David Culley — the Ravens’ assistant head coach, passing coordinator and wide receivers coach — to fill the last of seven openings. The 65-year-old Culley was the first and only black coach to be hired during this cycle and just the second minority hiring, joining the Jets’ Robert Saleh.
Eric Bieniemy and Patrick Mahomes APThe 51-year-old Bieniemy, meanwhile, is on his way to a second straight Super Bowl after overseeing another explosive Chiefs offense. One of the common refrains against his candidacy is that he doesn’t call plays, but neither did Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni, who was recently hired as the next Eagles’ coach.
“The way he’s able to go about calling plays throughout the game — I understand we have Coach [Andy] Reid, and Coach Reid calls plays, but there’s a ton of input from coach Bieniemy and he calls a ton of plays in our game plan,” Mahomes said. “It just gets overlooked. I mean, who knows what it is? It’s a loss for everybody else in the NFL and a gain for us. Hopefully he gets his chance, because he’ll succeed at wherever he is. But if he doesn’t, we’re glad enough to have him back again.”
