Report: Jaguars Interview Kansas City's Eric Bieniemy For Head Coach Opening
The Jacksonville Jaguars are continuing to conduct a wide search for their next head coach, with ESPN's Adam Schefter reporting the Jaguars completed an interview with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on Wednesday.
While the Chiefs' offense is orchestrated by Andy Reid and led on the field by former Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes, Bieniemy still brings many qualifications to the table. He has been linked to head coach vacancies for the last several seasons. His coaching background is listed below.
- Colorado (2001–2002): Running backs coach
- UCLA (2003–2005): Running backs coach
- Minnesota Vikings (2006–2009): Running backs coach
- Minnesota Vikings (2010): Assistant head coach/running backs coach
- Colorado (2011–2012): Offensive coordinator
- Kansas City Chiefs (2013–2017): Running backs coach
- Kansas City Chiefs (2018-present: Offensive Coordinator
“He’d be an awesome head coach,” Mahomes told media about his offensive coordinator in 2019. “He has that mindset, work ethic and determination you need to be a head coach in this league and I know he’s had the interest, but you know he will still be 100 percent in on what we are doing here."
Bieniemy would be the third Chiefs offensive coordinator to be hired in the last several years if/when he lands a head coaching job, following Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy.
Jacksonville owns the No. 1 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, so it is little surprise to see the Jaguars meeting with Bieniemy considering the success he has had with Mahomes and his development.
“I think obviously developing a young quarterback, we’ve been very unsuccessful at that. [The] last eight years, we haven’t had a franchise quarterback, so I think that is very, very important," Khan said.
The Jaguars have also been tied to San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, and Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Former Florida Gators and Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer has also been rumored to be connected to the open head coach role.
The Jaguars fired head coach Doug Marrone on Monday after the team finished with a franchise-worst 1-15 record in 2020. Marrone went 25-44 in four-plus seasons as Jacksonville's head coach, but the Jaguars have lost 36 of their last 48 games.
"Well, I certainly think there’s a huge amount of interest in this, much more so than the last time around. And I also look at really—we’re in a much different, and I would say a better position today than we were a year ago," Khan said on Monday.
"A little over a year ago, as you well know—and I think you reported—we did have team disharmony and we were—for lack of a better word—salary cap hell. I think today, I frankly thought that we would do better. We won six games last year [2019], but you know, certainly we have a lot of salary cap availability along with the draft picks and obviously the number one pick. But what’s evaded the history of the Jags, really, has been a franchise quarterback. And I think what’s unique, certainly, is that we have the ability now to make a choice and it’s going to define the franchise moving forward.”
