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INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts are now doing two head coach interviews a day, and their second interview of the day was a big one.
According to Colts owner Jim Irsay, Indianapolis interviewed Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
Bieniemy, who has been the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator for the past five seasons, has been a frequent candidate for head coach for several years, both due to his work under the highly respected Kansas City head coach Andy Reid and his work with the Chiefs’ superstar quarterback by Patrick Mahomes.
The fact that he has not yet been loaned out by another team surprised NFL observers. Bieniemy, 53, has conducted 15 head coach interviews for 14 teams over the past four years, and Reid’s coaching tree is long and distinguished, producing successful head coaches such as Buffalo’s Sean McDermott, Jacksonville’s Doug Pederson, John Harbaugh from Baltimore, Ron from Washington. Rivera and many others.
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For some reason, Bieniemy hasn’t hit yet, but Colts general manager Chris Ballard should be well acquainted with the former Colorado running back who spent nearly a decade in the NFL with three different teams.
Bieniemy was the Kansas City running coach for all four of Ballard’s seasons in the Chiefs office, and the Colts general manager routinely recalls the lessons he learned while working with Reid in Kansas City.
Reid has long been in favor of Bienie as head coach.
“I know what he can do,” Reid said in an interview posted on the Kansas City team website. “I’ve said it 100 times and I haven’t changed my mind about it. I hope he gets a chance.”
Bienemy’s offensive CV is hard to beat.
In addition to playing a key role in the development of Mahomes, who is widely regarded as the NFL’s premier quarterback, Bieniemy was the offensive coordinator for the Chiefs, which won one Super Bowl, went to another, finished first in the NFL in total offense three times in five seasons, and did not finish lower than sixth in the NFL.
Because of these achievements, Bienie’s inability to land the head coach position has baffled NFL observers for several seasons, and the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator took part in the league’s acceleration program at league meetings in May, which was implemented to help a diverse coach and front office candidate network with owners across the league.
“First of all let me say this, I thought the league did a great job with the accelerated program this spring and it was great to have the opportunity to be a part of it,” Bieniemy told Chiefs reporters in late December.
The specific reason why Bieniema has yet to get the job as head coach has yet to be reported.
Bieniemy doesn’t call for a Kansas City game, but many offensive coordinators have been hired without handling playmaking duties. Several reporters put forward the idea that Bieniemy did not do well in interviews, but the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator was publicly positive about his ongoing quest to become the NFL’s head coach.
“I’ve been through enough interviews to know there’s always something to learn,” Bieniemy told The Associated Press earlier this year. “The beauty of being in the position I’ve been in is that I’ve seen a lot of organizations run and I think this variety of conversations with all these different organizations gives me a better idea of how I should figure out for myself how I should go about this particular interview with this particular game plan, take a more business-like approach.
Bienie’s history with Ballard cannot be overestimated.
Few CEOs in the NFL have a better idea of how Bieniemy operates on a day-to-day basis, and Ballard has a deep respect for Reid, who has campaigned loudly and repeatedly for his candidacy over the past few seasons.
But the search for the Colts will continue Friday, with Indianapolis casting a wide net.
Bieniemy, Indianapolis special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone and Denver defense coordinator Ejiro Evero have already conducted an interview. The Colts are reportedly planning to interview Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Rams defense coordinator Raheem Morris on Friday, followed by an interview with Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen on Saturday.
Interim coach Jeff Saturday is also a contender, and so far Indianapolis has only interviewed coaches who don’t have a playoff game scheduled for NFL wildcard weekend, making the search likely to expand as the playoffs progress.
