When the Washington Commanders hired Eric Bieniemy in February last year, head coach Ron Rivera made it clear the former Chiefs’ offensive coordinator was his top choice. Rivera interviewed several candidates but waited until after the Super Bowl to bring Bieniemy on board.
Kansas City head coach Andy Reid highly recommended Bieniemy to Rivera. Bieniemy had spent 10 seasons in Kansas City, including the previous five as offensive coordinator. Bieniemy had received numerous interviews for head coaching positions over the years but was never hired for a top job.
The prevailing thought was that Bieniemy needed to be away from Reid to show other teams he could run his own show. Fair or not, that was the criticism.
Bieniemy’s season with Washington has certainly had its ups and downs. He was tasked with developing 2022 fifth-round quarterback Sam Howell. That development was going well through the first 10 weeks of the season. Sure, Howell took too many sacks and had some rough performances, but the upside he showed — more often than not — had the Commanders believing they may have their guy.
Unfortunately, Howell’s play has slipped over the past seven weeks. While the sacks have gone down, the turnovers have gone up. Howell isn’t seeing the field well and was benched twice in consecutive weeks. Jacoby Brissett entered the game in back-to-back weeks, leading five touchdown drives in his six series under center.
Let’s circle back to Bieniemy. He’s done some good things with Howell. But it’s fair to say that Rivera and Washington probably asked too much of Bieniemy in just one year.
There have been issues, though. Even before the season started, Rivera mentioned that players had come to him about Bieniemy’s coaching style. That drew criticism from around the NFL and former players who sided with Bieniemy — not the players.
Rivera recently discussed the frustration of current players, mentioning wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
There was also the lack of a running game from Washington, specifically when trying to develop a young quarterback.
With one game remaining in the 2023 NFL season, Rivera and Bieniemy’s working relationship is likely coming to an end after Sunday’s game against the Cowboys. On Friday, Rivera was asked if he believed Bieniemy would be in consideration for a head-coaching job in 2024.
“I think he can be,” Rivera answered. “I mean, you never know what people are thinking. I think the biggest thing for Eric is the things that he’s learned. And hopefully he’ll take those things and continue to use them and help him grow. But we’ll see. I mean, you never know what people are thinking or what people are looking for. It’s not necessarily just what has happened now as much as it’s about the body of work. And I think that sometimes speaks for itself. It’s hard to tell what people are thinking.”
What’s the biggest takeaway here? “You never know what people are thinking.” Rivera said a lot here without saying anything. What does that mean? Who knows.
“For the one year? Yeah. I mean, you’re talking about the whole body of work, and I’m talking about his whole career,” Rivera said when asked if the body of work can be seen without the results being there in 2024. “I mean, guys who’ve done less have gotten opportunities, and so we’ll see what happens.”
Rivera is correct in saying other coaches have received opportunities for doing less than Bieniemy. We’ve already heard of at least one team where Bieniemy could be in the mix for a top job in 2024.
Most coaches would offer a ringing endorsement for one of his assistants regardless of the circumstances. Rivera didn’t necessarily do that with his comments. Of course, Rivera could just be checked out and ready to move on.