The University of Colorado suddenly has a head coaching vacancy after former head coach Mel Tucker left the program to become the head coach for Michigan State. It’s extremely late in the process, with recruiting classes already composed and coaches entrenched in their jobs. Colorado will have an exceptionally difficult job, going out and hiring a coach at this point. However, there’s at least one coach with ties to the university that seems like a logical replacement.
That coach, of course, is Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieneimy. Bieniemy played for the Buffaloes from 1987-90 and was a standout. He has also been the running backs coach and offensive coordinator for the university before separate stints in the NFL.
Everyone around the league is making the connection from Colorado to Bieniemy and most expect them to at least reach out and gauge his interest.
With the Colorado job open, the school is expected to reach out to alum & #Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy. But it’s hard to imagine Bieniemy takes it. He just won a Super Bowl, will be a top HC candidate next year — and saving a recruiting class & hiring a staff this late is impossible.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 12, 2020
After two rounds of no luck in the NFL head coaching carousel, could Bienemy leave to be a head coach in college football? It seems unlikely that— after winning a Super Bowl — Bieniemy would leave the NFL for the college coaching ranks. In the past, being a member of Andy Reid’s staff practically guarantees a head coaching opportunity. So far, Bieniemy has been the exception to that rule. He took interviews with five or six teams over the past two seasons but to no avail.
The question we should all be asking is this: Has Bieniemy’s patience with the NFL hiring process worn thin? Perhaps he’ll feel that he has a better chance to become a head coach in the NFL if he can prove that he can do it successfully at the collegiate level.
Working in the shadow of Reid without being a play-caller hasn’t done him any favors so far. At the same time, Bieniemy is in the prime position to be a head coaching candidate in the NFL again in 2021. Would that change if he went to Colorado this year? Another thing to consider is that he won’t be working with the best quarterback in all of football in any place but Kansas City. Ultimately, if Colorado does reach out to Bieniemy, he’ll be faced with a difficult decision that could decide his football future.