Tag: Eric Bienemy

Previewing the UCLA Bruins offense ahead of Week 5 game vs. Oregon Ducks

UCLA’s offense is off to a slow start, but offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is looking to turn things around very quickly.

The UCLA Bruins faced one of the strangest situations a program will have to endure this past offseason, as its head coach, Chip Kelly, skipped town for a “lesser” job as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

Not only that, but the projected starter at quarterback, Dante Moore, left the Bruins knowing he would be Dillon Gabriel’s backup for a year at Oregon.

On paper, however, the Bruins seemingly made two good hires to overcome those deficiencies with first-time head coach and former UCLA running back DeShaun Foster and NFL veteran offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to run the offense.

But football is played on the field, not on paper, and the results haven’t been there for the Bruins in their first three games of the season. But one has to think that the offense will eventually get there.

Quarterback Ethan Garbers, a senior and former California Bear, is a veteran and moving into the Big Ten shouldn’t phase him. It hasn’t been pretty, however. Garbers is completing nearly 58 percent of his passes, but he has just three touchdowns to his name and four interceptions.

“I think he’s very athletic. He’s a guy that, when he does scramble, he scrambles and looks to throw,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said of Garbers. “I think that’s something. He’s had some success in each of his games. I think he’s getting more and more comfortable, but he throws a good ball and he’s able to really attack the soft zone really well and is getting more and more comfortable in their system.”

In their Big Ten opener against Indiana, a game the Hoosiers easily won 42-13, Garbers was just 14-of-23 passing for 137 yards and one interception. It wasn’t a good performance and Indiana is by far not the best team the Bruins will face in conference play this season.

The running game hasn’t gotten on track either.

Their leading rusher, TJ Harden, leads the team on the ground with just 24 yards a game. The aerial attack is a little better, but not by much. Garbers averages 230 yards a game and his favorite receiver, at least in the early going, seems to be Harden out of the backfield. He leads the team with 12 catches.

When Garbers is able to throw the ball down the field, his main target is Rico Flores, Jr., who is averaging almost 18 yards per reception. Former Duck Moliki Matavao has seven catches for 85 yards.

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UCLA makes splash hire with addition of two-time Super Bowl winning OC

The UCLA Bruins made a big hire on Saturday with the addition of two-time Super Bowl champion OC Eric Bienemy.

The UCLA Bruins were seemingly put in a tough position earlier this offseason when head coach Chip Kelly announced late in the coaching cycle that he was leaving Pasadena to take over as the new offensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Bruins seem to be making the best of their situation, though.

To replace Kelly, UCLA hired former RB DeShaun Foster as the new head coach, which seems to be a move that has inspired the fanbase and gotten some new blood into the program. Over the weekend, UCLA made another splash hire, landing former Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy as their new OC.

Bieniemy has been one of the hottest names on the coaching market over the past several years, having won two Super Bowls with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the past decade. Though he was never able to rise to the level of head coach in the NFL, many have thought that Bieniemy was among the brightest offensive minds in the sport.

Now he is going to Pasadena, where Bieniemy will look to help the Bruins transition into the Big Ten with a roster that could use some help when it comes to recruiting and talent acquisition. There is a long way to go before UCLA can become a power in the new conference, but Bieniemy is certainly someone who can help.

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7 realistic OC candidates the Eagles can target after parting ways with Brian Johnson

We’re looking at seven realistic candidates who could replace Brian Johnson as Offensive Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles

After a late-season meltdown that saw the Eagles go 1-6 in their final seven games, including the playoffs, the head coach is on the hot seat, and his assistant coaches are all expected to depart. 

Philadelphia’s third-year head coach has far exceeded expectations, but it’s clear that Johnson Gannon and Shane Steichen played far more significant roles than we thought.

The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane reports that offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, 36, won’t return after one season as the player-caller that saw him oversee the NFL’s No. 8-ranked unit but struggling to get consistent results during a late-season slide that included a blowout playoff loss to the Buccaneers.

Johnson recently interviewed for two different head coaching jobs — with the Falcons and Titans — but is expected to leave the Eagles regardless, per Derrick Gunn, likely landing “elsewhere in some offensive capacity.”

With things starting to heat up, we’re looking at seven realistic options for an offensive coordinator.

Eagles GM Howie Roseman, HC Nick Sirianni reaching out to coordinator candidates

After finishing their exit meeting, Eagles GM Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni have begun reaching out to potential coordinator candidates

It appears that Nick Sirianni will be safe and keep his job as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles after meeting with owner Jeffrey Lurie and GM Howie Roseman.

The same can’t be said for his assistants on both sides of the football.

Dianna Russini reports that Roseman and Sirianni have contacted potential coordinator candidates on the offensive and defensive sides.

Sirianni gets much credit for the Eagles’ success over the past three seasons.

Still, after a late-season meltdown that saw the Eagles go 1-6 in their final seven games, including the playoffs, the head coach and his assistant coaches expected were on the hot seat.

Philadelphia’s third-year head coach has far exceeded expectations, but it’s clear that Gannon and Steichen played far more prominent roles than we thought.

We previewed potential offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator candidates, and as the process began, the dominoes started to fall.

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10 offensive coordinator candidates the Eagles could target if Brian Johnson departs

We’re looking at ten offensive coordinator candidates the Philadelphia Eagles could target if Brian Johnson departs or is fired

Nick Sirianni officially has his own coaching tree after the Cardinals hired Jonathan Gannon and the Colts hired Shane Steichen in the 2023 coaching carousel.

Sirianni rightfully gets a lot of credit for the Eagles’ success.

Still, after a late-season meltdown that saw the Eagles go 1-6 in their final seven games, including the playoffs, the head coach and his assistant coaches could be on the hot seat.

Philadelphia’s third-year head coach has far exceeded expectations, but it’s clear that Gannon and Steichen played far more significant roles than we thought.

Andy Reid says the Eagles never even contacted the Chiefs to interview Eric Bieniemy

This is not a good look. At all.

The Eagles hired Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni as head coach after spending about two weeks on their search.

They apparently hired the 39-year-old without even bothering to take the necessary steps to speak to a candidate who, by all measures, should have been the most sought-after candidate on the market: Eric Bieniemy.

Bieniemy is the offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, who are in a position to win their second Lombardi in a row on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Beiniemy coaches the league’s best offense and has played a pivotal role in developing Patrick Mahomes, the 10th-overall pick in the 2016 draft who has emerged as one of the best to ever play his position even though he is still just 25 years old.

Mahomes has publicly advocated for Bieniemy to get a head coaching job.

Sounds like a no-brainer interview, right? Well, apparently not. At least in the case of the Eagles, anyway.

Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid told reporters on Wednesday that the Eagles, his former team, didn’t even reach out to the Chiefs to schedule a formal interview for Bieniemy, per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

This was after it was reported that the Eagles did reach out to the Chiefs to get permission to interview their offensive coordinator a couple of weeks ago.

Apparently, that never happened! At least, according to Reid’s side of the story.

Obviously, there would’ve been a waiting period for the interview because the Chiefs were still playing in the postseason. But it’s not out of the ordinary for teams to wait to interview head-coaching candidates on playoff teams.

Beyond that, many of the supposed slights against Bieniemy — that he doesn’t call plays and works for a head coach who is an offensive mastermind — apply to Sirianni, too.

We have no idea what happened here. There seems to have been some sort of miscommunication along the way in this process.

Either way, though, it’s not a great look. Not for the Eagles nor the NFL. Bieniemy is long overdue for his shot at a head coaching gig. Things like this just shouldn’t happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V09dfjIiM6g

It’s time to bust all the stock reasons Eric Bieniemy can’t be a head coach

For the second straight year, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has been passed over in the head coaching ranks.

Unless Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is offered and accepts the Houston Texans open head coach position that is two dumpsters on fire crashing into each other and falling off a cliff, the 2021 offseason will mark the second straight that Bieniemy will go without a serious look at a head coaching gig. It’s shameful in several ways, especially from a league that allegedly wants to make a difference in hiring coaches of color. In the current offseason cycle, only Robert Saleh — a man of Lebanese descent — has broken the all-white barrier when it comes to advancement to head coach in the NFL.

There are those who know exactly what time it is in the NFL — it’s an ownership problem, which means that it isn’t changing anytime soon — and there are others who insist that Bieniemy simply isn’t qualified to be a head coach, and everybody should just be quiet and expect the status quo. The arguments against Bieniemy are highly suspect at best, they usually go like this, and all of them can be easily busted.

Why Andy Reid and the Chiefs didn’t have to change much for Chad Henne

The Chiefs powered through Patrick Mahomes’ injury by being the Chiefs.

When Patrick Mahomes suffered an apparent concussion against the Browns, the football world froze. Arguably the best player in the sport was suddenly sidelined with a trip to the AFC Championship game on the line.

Everyone froze except for Andy Reid, Eric Bienemy and the rest of the Chiefs coaching staff. Chad Henne came into the game, the Chiefs adjusted, and were able to keep their foot on the gas en route to a 22-17 victory.

Not that Henne, who was making his first playoff appearance in the 13th season of his career, was exceptional. In fact he did his best to tank the game with an awful interception in the end zone that resembled an arm punt, but at the end of the day the Chiefs’ talent and organization on offense was enough to keep Henne afloat.

It didn’t seem like the Chiefs changed much of their offense to accommodate the shift in talent from Mahomes to Henne. The Chiefs still leaned on a vertical passing game, which did result in the aforementioned interception. But on the first play of the next drive, Tyreek Hill made an tough, contested catch over a Browns defensive back to help Henne.

Henne added his own playmaking skills with a scramble on third and long that set up the game-winning play for the Chiefs. With the Chiefs driving 22-17, Henne scanned the field and couldn’t find anyone open. Instead of forcing something ill-advised, he decided to take one for the team and sprint for the first-down marker — and almost made it! He dove (kinda) but landed just inches short.

There remained one more play where the Chiefs coaching staff really aided Henne in his quest to close the game out. On the final play that mattered, the Chiefs stalled for a bit — looking like they were simply trying to draw the Browns into a penalty before punting — but then ran an easy read for Henne to complete a pass to Hill to send the Chiefs to their third-consecutive AFC Championship game.

Instead of running to just get the inches needed for a first down, Henne rolled out to his right and found Hill wide open for a first down on a quick out route.

A combination of coaching, a gutsy play from Henne, and staying true to what they do well helped the Chiefs cross the finish line. Henne’s teammates were quick to compliment him after the game, and Mahomes tweeted his thoughts.

Henne has been around for a long time, but his stint as a full-time starter was fairly short. Prior to Week 17 this year, which the Chiefs used to rest some players, Henne hadn’t started a game since 2014.

He’s clearly not going to be able to come remotely close to consistently doing the things Mahomes does to make Kansas City’s offense one of the most dynamic we’ve ever seen. Reid and Bieniemy would no doubt adjust if Mahomes cannot return by next weekend.

But hopefully we don’t have to find out what they’d do if Henne got the start in championship game against the Bills. Hopefully Mahomes can be healthy enough to be out there again.

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Jets must keep an eye on Deshaun Watson’s feud with Texans

It would take a lot of trade for Deshaun Watson and change the trajectory of Joe Douglas’ plan, but if he gets a good deal he should do it.

One of the best young quarterbacks in the league could be looking to leave his current team.

Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is unhappy with the organization, according to multiple reports. His discontent comes after the team failed to consult him when they hired new general manager Nick Caserio and declined to interview Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy for their head coach position. Watson had previously said that the Texans told him he would be involved in the process, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

Naturally, trade speculation is starting to swirl around the situation. Every team in the NFL without an entrenched starting quarterback should at least check on Watson’s status. That includes the Jets, who have the draft capital to acquire Watson despite the presence of Sam Darnold and the potential to draft a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick in April.

Acquiring Watson would take a more-than-substantial package, but the idea is certainly tempting. Pairing him with a coach like Bienemy, who the Jets interviewed on Wednesday, would immediately make the Jets a contender again in the AFC East. Joe Douglas would sacrifice a lot – including the draft capital and financial flexibility he meticulously acquired over the past 19 months – but there aren’t many quarterbacks like Watson in the league and it’s not guaranteed the Jets would draft one, either. 

But would the Texans even trade Watson? Probably not.

The Texans have almost no urgency to move on from a quarterback as good as Watson unless they receive a bounty that could completely rebuild their broken roster in one or two years. The No. 2 pick would be enticing, though, considering the allure of someone like Justin Fields or Zach Wilson on a rookie contract.

There has never been a young quarterback like Watson traded in the modern NFL given his age, production and skillset. He’s only 25 and just put together a career-year, completing 70.2 percent of his passes and tossing 33 touchdowns with just seven interceptions while leading the NFL with 4,823 passing yards. Watson has 14,539 career passing yards, 1,677 career rushing yards and 122 combined touchdowns in four seasons. He also signed a four-year, $156 million contract last offseason with over $110 million guaranteed.

It would take an unprecedented package to acquire Watson. The closest quarterback trade in recent history was when the Falcons traded two first-round picks and a third to the Colts for Jeff George in 1994, and that wouldn’t even be enough to acquire Watson. 

In reality, it would likely cost closer to what the Vikings traded for Hershel Walker in 1989 or what Washington received for the pick that became Ricky Williams in 1999. The Cowboys received three first-round picks, three second-round picks, a third-round pick, a sixth-round pick and four players for Walker, while the Saints traded two firsts, two thirds, a fourth, a fifth and a sixth to move up and draft Williams.

The Jets are actually one of the few teams with the combination of draft picks and cap space to conceivably pull off a trade for Watson. A reasonable deal could include Darnold, the No. 2 pick in 2021, the Jets’ two first-round picks in 2022 and some other picks. The Jets also have enough cap room in 2021 to absorb Watson’s hefty $15.9 million cap hit, though that number jumps significantly to $40.4 million and more in the following years.

While acquiring a player like Watson makes sense in a vacuum, it might not be the smartest move for Douglas to mortgage the team’s future. The Jets have a lot of other missing pieces, and trading for Watson would disable them from building a more cohesive roster.

Watson is one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL. If Douglas can acquire him for a reasonable package, he absolutely should. Watson would completely change the trajectory of the Jets’ future and turn them into a contender quickly.

But a reasonable package doesn’t sound like a realistic one, and Douglas has set a strong precedent for not overspending. While the idea of Watson in green and white is one Jets fans can dream about, it also doesn’t feel too plausible at the moment.

Report: Falcons’ firing of head coach Dan Quinn all but finalized

According to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic, the Falcons have “all but finalized” their decision to terminate head coach Dan Quinn

The Atlanta Falcons fell to 0-5 after Sunday’s 23-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers. According to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic, the Falcons have “all but finalized” their decision to terminate head coach Dan Quinn, and could announce the firing as soon as Monday or Tuesday.

Atlanta started 1-7 last season, but Quinn saved his job after the team won six of its final eight games to finish second in the NFC South. Team owner Arthur Blank believed the Falcons would turn things around based off of the momentum the team built over the second half.

After five weeks, it’s clear that momentum is long gone, and it sounds like Quinn will be soon as well.

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