The Candidate: Eric Bieniemy (Kansas City)
Eric Bieniemy is another coach who fits the profile of an NFL coach who could be talking to the Ducks. As the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, Bieniemy is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in all of football, and he has repeatedly been in conversations for head coaching jobs at the professional level.
For some reason, he keeps getting passed up, though. Earlier this year, there were some talks that he could take the head coaching job at USC, coming back to the Pac-12 where he played as a running back for the Colorado Buffaloes and coached as the OC for Colorado in 2010.
It’s unclear how interested Bieniemy would be in a return to college, though. He was offered the CU head coaching job in 2020, but turned it down, and declined to say whether or not he was interested in the USC job when it opened up. On top of that, it would be extremely difficult for Oregon to hire him since the NFL season runs deep into January and February if a team is good, as the Chiefs typically are. At this point, it feels like Bieniemy is staying put until he can finally get that elusive HC job in the NFL.
Determination: Extremely unlikely
[listicle id=14099]