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The Saints want to speak with Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy for the head coaching job, per sources. An interview could take place Saturday.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 3, 2022
There we go: the New Orleans Saints have added another candidate to their head coach search, with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler first reporting that the Saints have requested an interview with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. News of New Orleans’ meeting with Bieniemy was confirmed by Nola.com’s Luke Johnson and NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill; an interview is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 5.
Bieniemy has drawn a lot of attention in recent years after helping to build up the vaunted Chiefs offense led by superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Here’s what I wrote of him when the Saints’ head coach search began:
“A New Orleans native who went to high school in California, Bieniemy’s name has come up frequently in annual head coach searches around the league, but he’s still working in the same role as Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator. And he’s excelled as Patrick Mahomes’ play caller, helping to design one of the NFL’s most creative and explosive offenses. As far as football performance goes he’s earned the right to run his own team twice over. But he’s been passed over again and again. Whether that’s due to poor interviews, a history of legal issues back in the 1990’s, or racial bias among NFL owners or some combination of those factors is unclear. But the Saints should give him a fair shot just like any other candidate.”
We’ll see how it goes. Bieniemy has interviewed with many teams before but so far none have chosen to hire him as their head coach. It’s an opportunity he’s earned, and now the Saints will get their own shot at making that decision.
The Saints have already made plans to interview in-house candidates like defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, as well as a former assistant coach in Aaron Glenn, while looking outside the box in meeting with former head coaches like Doug Pederson and Brian Flores. Adding Bieniemy to the mix makes a lot of sense, if nothing else to ensure they end up hiring the best candidate.
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