Since the moment Eric Bieniemy’s name was mentioned as a candidate for the Commanders’ offensive coordinator job, many have expressed anything from outrage to wonder on social media about how Bieniemy has not yet gotten a head coaching job in the league.
Add one huge name to that list: Robert Griffin III, who took to Twitter late Friday night to express his feelings on Bieniemy’s situation.
“Eric Bieniemy having to leave Kansas City to “prove himself” after WINNING 2 SUPER BOWLS as the Offensive Coordinator is a TRAVESTY,” Griffin wrote. “A position coach who wasn’t the Offensive Coordinator and a Special Teams Coach have been hired as Head Coaches in the last 5 years. HOW SWAY?”
Griffin’s latter critique seems to be a shot at former Giants head coach Joe Judge, who spent eight years as a special teams assistant and coordinator in New England before being hired in New York in 2020. Of course, that experiment failed, as Judge went 10-23 in two seasons before being fired and replaced by Brian Daboll, who was 9-7-1 and won a playoff game in his first season.
The former, however, could be aimed at either Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, who was the Rams’ quarterback coach the year before being hired in Cincinnati (although he did have a year of OC experience in Miami) or Dan Campbell, who was the Saints’ tight ends coach for five years before being hired in Detroit – but he, too, had the “assistant head coach” title in New Orleans, and went 5-7 as Miami’s interim head coach in 2015 after Joe Philbin was fired.
Both of those could be seen as unfair, as yes, Bieniemy has been incredibly successful under Andy Reid, but Taylor has led the Bengals from a one-win team to a Super Bowl, and Campbell went from 3-13-1 in his first season in Detroit to 9-8 and in playoff contention until the final Sunday of the season this year.
It will now be interesting to see, however, how RGIII reacts to Bieniemy’s ups and downs now that he is in DC.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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