While the Washington Redskins look to begin their coaching search as the season winds to a close, with just three games left on the schedule, a name that keeps coming up is Eric Bieniemy, the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Not only has Bieniemy surged to the top of the list of candidates for any open head coaching job in the NFL, but he also has a number of ties to the Redskins and their current personnel. Once upon a time, he acted as the OC for wide receiver Paul Richardson Jr. at the University of Colorado, but he was also the running backs coach for Adrian Peterson with the Minnesota Vikings, and he held the position of OC for Alex Smith with the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s safe to say that if he has questions about the Washington organization, there are a few people he can ask.
On the flip side, these players in Washington can also reach out to him and potentially sway him in the direction of taking over the Redskins job. Both Richardson and Peterson were asked about Bieniemy earlier this week, and while they didn’t publically lobby for him to come to Washington, they did make sure to point out how deserving he is of a top job in the NFL.
“I think he’s a great coach,” said Richardson, via The Athletic. “I think he’s a great leader. He’s really intense. He prides himself on details and execution. He’s old-school, man. He played running back, back in the day. So, of course, he’s one of those guys that is all for the run-first mentality, but he definitely one of those people that wants to get the most out of his players. I felt that a lot when I was in Colorado.”
For Peterson, he recalls the times in Minnesota where Bieniemy would constantly require the RBs to take diligent notes during film sessions, and he often wouldn’t let a detail slip by.
“He was big on taking notes,” Peterson said, via The Athletic. “You have your pen out and writing notes down, and we didn’t have an excuse. He had everything we need for that week written on the board, on both sides, and we used to go over it, and you were able to see it in intensive detail. It’s like, man; he is really like making sure that we are dialed in, and we know exactly what’s going on. So the running back group, and the fullback group we are in sync. We have no excuse to eff up.”
So while they may not have publically endorsed him for the Redskins job, both Richardson and Peterson will be the first people to tell you that Bieniemy is a sure-fire head coach that deserves a chance somewhere in the league. If it happens to be in Washington, you’d surely hear no complaints from them.
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