Denver Broncos have requested permission to interview KC Chiefs’ Eric Bieniemy: report
The annual Eric Bieniemy Watch is officially underway.
The Chiefs’ offensive coordinator has been linked to virtually every NFL head coaching vacancy in the past three years. And now he reportedly has another opportunity on the radar.
With an AFC West rival.
Denver has requested permission to interview Bieniemy for its open head coach position, the NFL Network reported on Monday. The Broncos on Sunday fired Vic Fangio, one day after the Chiefs beat Denver for the 13th straight time, 28-24.
This isn’t the first time in recent months that Bieniemy’s name has come up during coaching searches at the college and professional levels. In September, Bieniemy was linked to the then-vacant head coaching job at USC, which eventually went to Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley.
The 52-year-old Bieniemy is widely regarded around the league as not just a top minority candidate, but a top candidate for an NFL head coaching position, period. Teams with vacancies, however, have gone in different directions despite strong endorsements from Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and head coach Andy Reid.
Reid again took an opportunity two weeks ago to put in a good word for his coordinator when the window opened for NFL teams without head coaches to begin conducting virtual interviews with candidates.
“I’ve hammered the point about Eric Bieniemy,” Reid said on Dec. 27. “I just think the world of the guy, and he’s tremendous.”
Over the past two offseasons, Bieniemy is known to have interviewed for then-vacant jobs with the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins.
None of those interviews resulted in Bieniemy’s hire elsewhere.
As of Monday, the Broncos, Dolphins, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings have open head coaching jobs. The Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars finished the 2021 regular season with interim head coaches.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Denver Broncos have requested permission to interview KC Chiefs’ Eric Bieniemy: report."
