As the NFL’s 2020 regular-season comes to an end, the coaching carousel for the 2021 NFL season begins.
Kansas City Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy is once again expected to be a hot coaching candidate after taking numerous interviews in each of the past two coaching cycles. According to a new report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Bieniemy already has an interview on the books, this time with the Atlanta Falcons. He’ll join San Francisco 49ers DC Robert Saleh, who also is set to interview for the HC vacancy.
The Falcons fired HC Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff back in October after an 0-5 start. Interim HC Raheem Morris took over and coached the team to a 4-12 record. He also already interviewed for the HC vacancy in Atlanta.
The #Falcons will have two head coach interviews tomorrow, as they are set to zoom with #49ers DC Robert Saleh, per coach Kyle Shanahan, and #Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, per source.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 4, 2021
Ahead of the 2019 season, Bieniemy took interviews with the New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals. Ahead of the 2020 season, Bieniemy interviewed with the Cleveland Browns, Carolina Panthers, and New York Giants. Each of these seven teams opted for other options instead of Bieniemy.
The Jets, who interviewed Bieniemy before hiring recently-fired HC Adam Gase, are also expected to be interested in Bieniemy again according to reports. They have not formally set up an interview yet and it’s not clear if Bieniemy will be interested. We’ve learned that Bieniemy is more than happy to “keep chopping wood” in Kansas City. He won’t settle for anything less than what he considers the perfect opportunity and he certainly won’t go somewhere that doesn’t truly want him as their head coach.
