6:10pm: Schefter tweets that the deal is now official. He adds, unsurprisingly, that Bieniemy’s new job title will be accompanied by a raise in terms of annual compensation compared to what he had been earning during his time in Kansas City.
4:12pm: A deal between the Commanders and Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy appears to be in place. Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports (via Twitter) that the parties have agreed on a multi-year pact which will see him become the new offensive coordinator and assistant head coach in Washington.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds that the Commanders are aiming to have a deal formally in place by tomorrow (Twitter link). Assuming that happens, it will officially mark the end of a courtship which increasingly pointed to a move from Kansas City to the nation’s capital in recent days. Pelissero notes that the Super Bowl champions preferred to keep Bieniemy in place, but they will now look elsewhere to fill a major vacancy. 
Bieniemy, 53, has been connected to several head coaching positions in recent years, as his role in shaping the Chiefs’ elite offense has been noted. His lack of opportunities has led to widespread criticism, but now he will take on an OC role featuring complete control of an offense for the first time. Much will therefore be learned about his abilities in what is an increased capacity, though the Commanders represent a far different situation to the one in Kansas City.
Washington led the NFL in time of possession last season, but put up below-average numbers in several other offensive categories. That was caused in no small part by their poor QB play, a mark of their continued inability to find a long-term solution under center. Their latest attempt was the trade acquisition of Carson Wentz, but he was relegated to backup duty by the end of the season, one in which the team went 8-8-1. Rookie Sam Howell has since been named the starter heading into 2023.
The fifth-rounder attempted just 19 regular season passes, so to call him a stark contrast from two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes in terms of pedigree would be a massive understatement. Bieniemy will still have a veteran head coach alongside him on the sidelines in Ron Rivera, though whispers have picked up that he could be on the hot seat next year.
With a Bieniemy move seemingly likely, it came out earlier today that QBs coach Matt Nagy is the name to watch for a promotion to the OC role. Nagy flamed out as head coach of the Bears, but a second OC posting in Kansas City for 2023 could help him rebuild his stock. Head coach Andy Reid has been a play-caller with the Chiefs during Bieniemy’s tenure, clouding the latter’s importance to the unit. It will be worth watching how much that dynamic changes if Nagy is tapped as Bieniemy’s replacement.
With Bieniemy set to head to the nation’s capital, here is the final breakdown of the Commanders’ OC search:
- Darrell Bevell, quarterbacks coach (Dolphins): Declined interview request
- Eric Bieniemy, offensive coordinator (Chiefs): Hired
- Thomas Brown, tight ends coach (Rams): Interviewed 1/24
- Jim Caldwell, former head coach (Lions): Declined interview request
- Charles London, quarterbacks coach (Falcons): Interview requested
- Anthony Lynn, assistant head coach/running backs coach (49ers): Interviewed 2/1
- Greg Roman, former offensive coordinator (Ravens): Interviewed 2/14
- Pat Shurmur, former offensive coordinator (Broncos): Interviewed; fallback option?
- Eric Studesville, running backs coach (Dolphins): Interviewed 1/23
- Ken Zampese, quarterbacks coach (Commanders): Interviewed 1/18
Good Luck to him
Why leave a 2x SB winner for that garbage franchise?
He’s probably gunning for a HC job, and it’s obvious that no one is impressed enough by his work in Reid and Mahomes shadow’s, to make him a HC. I’m not sure the Commanders are a good choice, but he does have to prove it somewhere else.
His career has pretty much stagnated in KC.
It’s a gamble, but I get it. He wasn’t calling plays there and he kept getting passed over for HC jobs, so it’s a good experience that might make him a better candidate eventually. I think he’s basically just betting on himself.
Because it’s time for him to show he can be a real OC, not just one in title only. It’s likely his only way to show he can be a HC someday.
Since when is an OC only an OC if they call plays? That wasn’t the standard for Reich, Pederson, Nagy, Sirianni, O’Connell, Taylor, or McDaniel.
Oooof I totally agree. So many others have gotten those Head Coach jobs with less play calling and experience on their resume. The difference is he is black and those others weren’t. Let the haters start to justify.
Why are things still about race though, it can’t just be a coincidence? Would you rather he prove everyone wrong and become a great HC, or just get a HC and become a massive failure?
Is it about race? Did Reich get arrested for grabbing a female parking attendant by the neck? Did Pederson take his pants off and urinate in front of her? Did Sirianni get arrested for shoving a fireman who was trying to put out a fire at his mother’s house? Did McDaniel get arrested on a DUI? Did any of them use alcohol, drugs and sex as recruitment tools to get players to their college program? Bieniemy did those things. That’s why he’s not a head coach. If these other guys did these things too, and still got hired, then talk to me about race. Until then it’s character. You just can’t hire a guy in the #metoo Era to be the face of your franchise who choked a woman, who was just trying to do her low paying job, even if it was 30 years ago.
Lmao wait, Bieniemy really did pee in front of the parking attendant? Did he also shove a fireman too? That’s way too funny holy s***
Never heard any of this
On top of all those issues, don’t forget he was in charge of recruiting at CU while there was a major rape scandal involving recruits. This was during a time when everything at big time football schools just got swept under the rug.
He’s a shadow in KC. Nobody can ascertain if the positives coming out of their offense are his or Reid’s and the collective “Big Red” social/press isn’t doing him any favors.
Washington though? Yeech…Between the teetering ownership and Rivera’s record, that place is ripe for swapsville. He’s probably not going to last long on the account of the NFL musical chairs.
Gutsy move for Bieniemy. It seems inevitable he’ll have to prove himself away from Reid and Mahomes if he’s ever going to become a HC, but the Commanders are definitely one of the teams you could go to to attempt it.
Likely going to have to pull off some Shanahan-esque magic by succeeding with an average at best QB (Jimmy G).
My guess is he ends up back in KC if Reid is still coaching by then, to bring him back in.
While I think that you underestimate Jimmy G’s capabilities, I think that you are correct. A major advantage here is that Bienemy will be calling plays, in addition to being on his own. He had probably gone about as far as he could go in K.C., and I would imagine that if the Washington experiment goes even remotely well that he will have a head coaching job sooner rather than later.
Jimmy G is underestimated, but Mahomes has his number on the one-legged game.
Fair, but I feel like Jimmy G’s been playing on one leg his entire career, so he gets the longevity…
Good call.
sure the Chiefs will have trouble finding someone.
“Hey who wants to stand on the sidelines and coach 2 time MVP and Superbowl MVP in his prime while Andy really runs the ship?”
I’d imagine they’ll eventually just promote Nagy
Chad Henne!!! Lol
He has to take this job because he interviews bad. He’s interviewed for 16 oc and head coaching jobs and got none
If only he could interview as well as Nathaniel Hackett or Joe Judge.
Yeah I’m sure you’ve got lots of evidence he interviews bad
Anyone who interviews for 16 jobs and doesn’t get it there is an issue from OC to head coach
He got the Chief’s OC job via a scratch off ticket, I guess?
I wish him luck, but still think this is a wild choice of place to make the OC-to-OC leap, play-calling or not. The head coach is likely on the hot seat, the owner might be selling, and the only quarterback on the roster is a 5th rounder with 19 pro pass attempts to his name, assuming they cut Wentz, which would be bananas not to do. And outside a couple of nice receivers, this offensive roster doesn’t have much to recommend it.
Rivera being on the hot seat may end up helping Bienemy in attaining a head spot. If Rivera goes, Bienemy is a prime candidate to be interim coach or a full-on replacement. Of course, if Rivera goes because the offense is terrible, this obviously does not happen. But it is a distinct possibility. Del Rio, who is in my opinion a better head coach than he got credit for, has received criticism as coordinator in Washington, and was a Rivera pick who has already had a chance as coach. If Rivera is fired, and ownership wants to change direction and evaluate for the future, Bienemy may be a fresher breath of air in their minds, and one that will likely give them some good publicity in certain circles.
In any case, Bienemy calling plays from out of Reid’s shadow stands to help his career prospects immensely. Unless he flames out, it’s not difficult to imagine that his Washington stay ends up short. Bienemy just has to do a decent job to give a prospective team confidence. If that happens, I think that he earns a job somewhere.
Good move from Eric as being a sidekick to Andy and seemingly having minimal ‘in game’ play input puts a coach’s’ capability in question. Complete OC responsibility will either make or delay his future upward mobility. one would think you couldn’t hang with a mastermind like Andy without acquiring positive experience.
Hope he succeeds and the Redskins can finally draft a QB that can challenge the East
There’s no NFL team by that name.
They will always be the Redskins and the Indians will always be the Indians and butt hurt. Liberals will always be butt hurt liberals.
Ah yes, and it’s definitely not that you’re a reactionary bigot.
If racists were smart enough to disguise their racism they’d toss in the Hornets becoming the Pelicans (or the Bobcats becoming the Hornets) when they bemoaned sports team name changes.
They weren’t AS upset about those as they were about the Indians or Redskins.
For some reason.
I actually didn’t like that they became the Pelicans.
Also to add onto that, what makes people react to it is because the media blows it out of proportion and mentions why they’re changing the name. No one came out and made it a big deal with the Pelicans/Bobcats because it’s not some “racist” junk. Everyone’s so sensitive now. “Bigot”, lmao, only a certain kind of person uses that stupid word.
So…it’s OK to a change a team’s name.
UNLESS it’s racist. And then “we” (collectively) must keep it to make people who think racism is wrong sad.
BUT, it’s not because “we” are racist.
It’s because the people who are against racism are “too sensitive” so we must cause them pain, right?
AND it’s totally not that “we” are “too sensitive” about being called racists because it hits too close to home due to fact that “we” are obvious racists.
Is that what you are going with…?
The funny part about everything, is no matter how hard the media tries, racism will never die. Every race is racist, that includes blacks Latinos Asians islanders and middle eastern people.
But fine, I’ll call them the Redskins to piss off you liberals and you can call them the Commanders.
Are these nhl or nba or mlb teams?
In case you’re not aware – every nationality, every race, every social caste is prejudicial. You seem to feel your position is superior to any other which is another form of prejudice. Racial discord is not predicated on a name but a pigment of color
Ahh, I’ve seen this line of BS from racists a bit more often lately….
“eVeRyOnE has implicit bias….THEREFORE, a woman in an interracial marriage who works for the ACLU is JUST as bigoted as the Grand Wizard of the Klan!!! All the same!!!!”
Yeah, no.
Looks like it’s not too late to be the first guy to say wow.
Maybe if he’s closer to Stephen A …
Good hire. I wish he was coming to the Steelers.
link to youtube.com
Imagine betting your career on Sam Howell.
That’s an odd take since few people ever expect a fifth round QB to be developed into an elite starter.
Sure, but…it’s Ron Rivera’s odd take, so…
That is, in fact, what Bienemy is doing.
But nobody is going to suffer a career setback because they couldn’t turn a 5th round QB into a quality starter. If Bieniemy actually managed to do that, it would significantly enhance his coaching credentials.
If Bienemy leads an offense that goes so badly the starter has to be replaced, he’s not getting a HC job.
This is obvious to most people.
Sam Howell was originally favoured to go in the first round (after his sophomore season). A whole lot of his offense graduating and leaving him undermanned in his final season resulted in the fall out of the first round. No one expected Howell to last further than the third in a worst case scenario.
Not your ordinary 5th round QB pick.
Forever Redskins.
The article said there has been widespread criticism for his lack of opportunity. He has had plenty of opportunities and interviewed for them and didn’t get them. Access to opportunities doesn’t guarantee outcomes.
Parroting a lot of other comments here but gosh …seems like a less than ideal situation to land in
It’ll be interesting to see what happens now with the QB position. Does he see Howell as someone he can develop and produce or will be go in another direction.
Besides that the offence has pieces, they have two decent RBS in Gibson and Robinson. They have 3 good WRers in Scary Terry, Samuel and Dotson. Logan Thomas is an alright TE too.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see them grab another good TE in the draft too, adding another weapon.
If he decides Howell ain’t the guy or isn’t ready I wouldn’t be surprised to see him add a guy like Baker who many have written off and make him a decent QB again. Baker definitely has potential. Same with Heinike I could see him developing him into a decent starting QB
Seat’s warming up Ron. Stellar move for WSH for this exact reason.
CBS sports says Eric is QC & assistant HC. Signs are pointing to a mid season firing for Ron.
link to cbssports.com
I actually wouldn’t be shocked. I’m not necessarily FOR it (not that I’m a Washington fan), but I think allowing Bienemy to settle in for a full year before relying on him as a head coach would be better.
Good for him. It’ll be very interesting to see what exactly his offense looks like. Will it be a carbon copy of Reid or does he have his own system. Clearly he presented plenty of red flags in HC interviews, as he was universally rejected for that position. It really doesnt seem like KC is very upset he’s gone. Or that they were even too keen on retaining him. Washington certainly presents a challenge. Seems like a lot of questions people have about this guy will be answered fairly quickly.
Rivera might be prepared to leave of his own accord in a season or two. Don’t forget the man recently survived cancer and seems a bit faded. Leaving at a time of his choosing, with a hand-picked successor. It could be worse.