Former Chiefs Coach Received Interest From AFC Rival This Offseason

Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy surprisingly left the organization last offseason to join the Washington Commanders. Bieniemy took over as the Commanders' offensive coordinator last season.

However, that didn’t last long as the Commanders’ new regime didn’t keep the former Chiefs offensive coordinator on the staff. Bieniemy then took his talents to the college ranks, where he’s currently the offensive coordinator/assistant head coach at UCLA.

But before Bieniemy went to UCLA, the former Chiefs offensive coordinator and running backs coach received a phone call from then-New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh in the offseason. Saleh was fired earlier this week by the Jets.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Saleh “tried to recruit multiple different offensive coaches during the offseason.” Russini adds that the Jets spoke to Kliff Kingsbury, Luke Getsy, Arthur Smith, and Bieniemy.

Kingsbury ultimately took over for Bieniemy as the new offensive coordinator with the Commanders.

However, Russini also reported that since Saleh didn’t have an offensive coordinator title to offer, it was difficult to make an addition. Nathaniel Hackett has been the Jets’ offensive coordinator for the last two years. Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich removed Hackett’s play-calling duties this week.

Nonetheless, it’s not surprising Saleh wanted to pick Bieniemy’s brain, given his success in Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes for multiple seasons. The former Chiefs coordinator didn’t have the same success in his lone season with the Commanders and Sam Howell.

That said, one could only imagine what type of creativity Bieniemy would’ve brought to an Aaron Rodgers-led offense.

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