Houston Texans: 5 Candidates for head coach vacancy

Eric Bieniemy: Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator

The name Eric Bieniemy should not surprise any Houston Texans fan. After being mentioned for multiple openings last offseason, it would be stunning if Bieniemy did not land a head coaching position this time around. Bieniemy has spent the last three seasons residing over the most dynamic offense in NFL history.

Bieniemy skeptics claim that the dominance of the Kansas City offense should mostly be credited to head coach Andy Reid and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. I understand the concern about how much responsibility Bieniemy actually has there, but the idea of Bieniemy is still an exciting one as he has now spent the last eight years working and learning from the great Andy Reid. Now, imagine Bieniemy coming to the Houston Texans and using those same concepts with Deshaun Watson.

Bieniemy undoubtedly checks a lot of boxes. He is a young, ambitious coach with one of the most impressive resumes of any coordinator in the league. If you hire him, you are hoping he has familiarized himself with Reid’s ingenious concepts and is ready to implement them on his own team.

Reid disciples have had different degrees of success in the past. The obvious success story here is Doug Pederson. While the last couple of seasons have been a bit frustrating for Philadelphia fans, he brought the Eagles franchise their first Super Bowl championship so it would be absurd to label him anything other than a hit.

The Chicago Bears have not been quite as successful under Matt Nagy. Throughout most of the 2020 season, Chicago has had one of the more dreadful offenses in the NFL and Nagy only has one playoff appearance to show for.

Bieniemy is not Reid, nor is he Nagy or Pederson. He is his own coach that will have his own ideas and philosophies, and it will be fascinating to watch them play out regardless of where he ends up. If you go the coordinator route, he appears to be one of the best possible options out there.