Looks like the Houston Texans dodged a bullet by not hiring Eric Bieniemy

Eric Bieniemy, who was fired as the offensive coordinator of the UCLA Bruins on Thursday, was a hot name in the NFL coaching carousel for years. The former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator was even in contention for a spot with the Houston Texans in 2021.

At the time, Deshaun Watson was their star quarterback and he was adamant about wanting Bieniemy to take over. Houston went in a different direction, which was a controversial move.

They hired David Culley in 2021, who went 4-13 before being fired. Lovie Smith took over from there and was 3-13-1. Finally, in 2023, the Texans found the right man in DeMeco Ryans, who went 10-7 as a rookie and is 8-5 through 13 games in 2024.

READ MORE: Texans fans continue to destory NFL for double-standard on social media

While Culley and Smith weren't great hires, the decision to skip on Bieniemy has proven to be the right call as well — even though it was wildly unpopular. It was so unpopular that the Texans, and any other team that refused to hire the former running back were being absolutely slandered in the media.

They contended that the Chiefs were winning because of Bieniemy, whereas the Texans (and every other team) understood that Andy Reid was the offensive genius in K.C. They also saw that the offense was the same under Dough Pederson, Matt Nagy, and Bieniemy — so there wasn't any proof that he was the one who made Patrick Mahomes elite.

To his credit, Bieniemy understood that coaching under Reid would prevent him from proving his talent as a play-caller. That led to his decision to take on a job with the Washington Commanders. That offense finished 25th in the NFL in points and 24th in yardage.

From there, he took another coordinator job, this time in the NCAA with UCLA. He was let go after leading them to the 117th-ranked offense in the nation.

We never want to celebrate someone losing a job but this should at least prove the Houston front office wasn't mistreating Bieniemy in any way. They just didn't believe he was the reason for the success in K.C. and that's becoming more apparent than ever.

More Texans news and analysis