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In addition to the coordinator role, Bieniemy
will serve as Ron Rivera's assistant head coach, NFL Network
reported.
Bieniemy is coming off winning his second Super Bowl as the
Chiefs' coordinator. He worked on Andy Reid's staff in Kansas
City for 10 years, as running backs coach from 2013-17 before
his promotion to offensive coordinator in 2018.
Under Bieniemy, the Chiefs ranked first in both total offense
and scoring offense in 2022. They were first in both categories
in 2018 and never ranked lower than sixth in the league in
either statistic in the past five years.
Reid handled most of the play-calling duties for Kansas City,
and the offense has flourished since Patrick Mahomes took over
at quarterback. A day after the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia
Eagles 38-35 to win Super Bowl LVII, Reid told reporters it was
possible Bieniemy could leave the team to find a bigger role.
"Eric Bieniemy has been tremendous for us and I think he's
tremendous for the National Football League," Reid said. "I'm
hoping he has an opportunity to go somewhere and do his thing,
where he can run the show and be Eric Bieniemy."
Bieniemy, who is Black, was passed over in the latest turn of
the head-coaching carousel, though he interviewed with the
Indianapolis Colts before that team hired Philadelphia Eagles
offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. According to USA Today,
Bieniemy interviewed for head-coaching vacancies 16 times with
15 NFL teams (including the New York Jets twice), with many
feeling he had been unfairly passed over because of his race.
Bieniemy, 53, was an All-American running back for a Colorado
team that won a national championship in 1990. He went on to
play nine seasons in the NFL with the then-San Diego Chargers,
Cincinnati Bengals and Eagles.
The Commanders fired offensive coordinator Scott Turner after
the 2022 season and were in the market for his replacement.
Washington had a top-10 defense but ranked 20th in total offense
and 24th in scoring offense last season, and Rivera has said
that 2022 fifth-round draft pick Sam Howell is the team's No. 1
quarterback entering the offseason.
--Field Level Media
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