So an interesting twist to the Commanders’ head coaching search over the weekend: the team met with current OC and associate head coach Eric Bieniemy per multiple reports; apparently, EB met with Josh Harris and Adam Peters, with Josina Anderson Tweeting that “the interview was labeled ‘detailed’ and checked all of the boxes” and The Schultz Report saying Bieniemy had an ‘excellent and highly-detailed approach.’
Bieniemy, as an internal candidate, does not satisfy Rooney Rule requirements, so it was more than just a formality of the process…or was it?
“Well, he's got the time to put that all together…I don’t believe this will happen,” Bish said. “Is this kind of a courtesy to Bieniemy?”
“I think it's probably more that than anything,” Cakes replied. “Does anybody really think that Josh Harris is going to hire B Enemy as the head coach after watching what happened this season?”
“I would puke, just for the record,” was EB’s chime-in.
“I think that seems to be the universal response; I put this up on Facebook and asked how would you feel if he was hired and most people are like that,” JP fired back. “But the amazing thing about this is that if you look back three months, like 80 to 90 percent of the fan base wanted him.”
A lot can change in three months, though, especially inside the fire.
“I actually think somewhere, someplace, he could be a good head coach, because I do like his leadership qualities,” EB said. “I've kind of said that all season and I don't mind holding people to a high standard. I think that's great. Obviously a hard ass, there's a place for that, for sure, but a lot of the guys here didn't like him. You could say that's a problem with them, not him, but they just didn’t produce, and he didn't get anything more than Scott Turner got out of this offense. Maybe if you give him better personnel, maybe he is better, and maybe he’s a great leader of men, but based on his offensive coordinator abilities here, I wasn't blown away.”
We know the Commanders had Zooms scheduled with Dan Quinn and Raheem Morris last week, but in-person interviews couldn’t begin with external candidates until today, and not until next week for any of the final four teams – which means at least three of the Commanders’ initial seven requests – so you can’t really read into reports too deeply, either?
“Peters, Harris, and whoever else is making the decision – maybe Bob Myers and Rick Spielman are still in the mix – are getting a pitch, and maybe Bieniemy's pitch will be more impressive than some of these other guys,” JP said. “I agree on the stats, the offense didn't really improve from Scott Turner's offense. Now, he could say, ‘well, I was stuck with Sam Howell, inexperienced, led the league in interceptions, my head coach wouldn't let me switch to the guy that I wanted.’”
“Well, the counter to that is that you didn't do him any favors,” EB said. “You dropped him back 50 times, what are you doing?”
“I put a lot of stock in the fact that historically, when a new owner and a new coach come in, they don't keep the same coordinators, let alone elevate one of them,” Bish replied.
How would you feel about EB as HC in DC? Listen to the Junks’ entire convo, as well as some calls about it, above!