Saints might have dodged a major bullet by not hiring Eric Bieniemy

Editor’s Note – The original source from the Chiefs Kingdom Editorial Board has been pulled. Here was their message regarding why. 

The New Orleans Saints interviewed several different candidates for their head coaching job before ultimately hiring Dennis Allen. It felt like from the start that Allen was going to get the job but the Saints were wise to conduct an actual search and one of the men they spoke with was Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.

The Saints reportedly spoke with Bieniemy for eight hours before ultimately going with Allen. Bieniemy isn’t under contract in Kansas City as of now so now there’s been discussions of where the offensive coordinator is going to go next.

Well, an interesting story was released on Wednesday night that potentially has brought to light why Bieniemy hasn’t landed any of the 15 head coaching jobs he’s interviewed for.

The story, which was released by the Chiefs Kingdom Editorial Board — a source that used to be known as “Save Our Chiefs” in Kansas City before the organization was a consistent contender, goes into detail about the fractured relationship between Bieniemy and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

It’s worth noting that we’re not entirely sure if this report is true but NFL insider Benjamin Allbright did confirm that some parts of it were indeed true but he’d dispute other parts. Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill also noted that Bieniemy was one of the best coaches in the league. Those are important things to note.

Saints might have been wise to avoid hiring Eric Bieniemy if reports are true

There was a section in the piece that directly mentioned Bieniemy and the Saints. This was during the segment of the article where Bieniemy’s bad luck with landing a head coaching gig was being discussed.

The editorial board mentioned that when someone interviews for a head coaching position 15 times and don’t land it, maybe that person isn’t suited for the role and that race has nothing to do with it.

Here’s where the Saints were mentioned.

"Case in point, the NFL begged and pleaded with the Saints ownership group to “strongly consider” Bieniemy. In the end, the team felt Dennis Allen’s plan and continuity was more important than Bieniemy’s ideas and the NFL’s pleadings."

This isn’t even the meatiest part of the article.

Details of Mahomes and Bieniemy quarreling throughout the season and not listening to his players come to light and show just why the long-time Chiefs OC might not have landed a head coaching job yet.

Saints fans were intrigued by Bieniemy and what he could bring to this offense and it’s not hard to see why. He’s been the offensive coordinator of one of the most explosive offenses in the league, who wouldn’t want to add a guy like that?

Something felt off with the Chiefs this year though and while, again, we don’t know how much truth there is to this piece, it would explain a lot as far as Kansas City’s season went. They weren’t their usual selves despite having a lot of the same pieces.

We don’t know what kind of head coach Dennis Allen will be in New Orleans yet but as of now, it looks like NOLA dodged an incredibly huge bullet by not hiring Eric Bieniemy if this report is true.