Eric Bienemy is one of the best offensive coordinators in football and a future head coach from the Andy Reid coaching tree, but does that mean he should take the Texans job.
With the surprising news of former Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien being fired by the organization earlier this week after a 0-4 start to the season the team will be looking for a head coach and with every coach firing comes the swirling of rumors of who the next head coach could possibly be.
Well, as expected, Eric Bienemy has been linked to the head coach opening in Houston and rightfully so. Bienemy has been an understudy of Andy Reid for years now and has worked with many talented players and other great coaches during his time in Kansas City. Despite not being hired in the last two offseason cycles, Eric Bienemy has been one of the most coveted head coaching candidates heading into this year and now having yet another year of offensive coordinator experience, Bienemy will likely be gone by the end of this season.
It is obvious Bienemy will be on a short list of candidates for the Texans and even John McClain of the Houston Chronicle who has been covering the league for 45 years says that "Eric Bienemy would be my favorite for next Texans head coach" in a video interview on NFL network. So it is clear that the Texans will want Bienemy, but does Bienemy want the Texans? He shouldn't.
First of all, The Texans don't have a first or a second round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. That's not great considering the Texans will need some serious roster revamping. They even traded DeAndre Hopkins (and a 1st rounder) who was their best receiver for an aging running back in David Johnson and then traded a 2nd for Brandin Cooks while making Leramy Tunsil the highest-paid left tackle in the league. Bill O'Brien has just left the cupboard too bear for anyone wanting to help the team be better as his roster building has been terrible at best.
Secondly, the Texans have a lot of bad contracts and currently have the highest payroll in the NFL at $255 Million and are currently on pace to miss the playoffs. The only thing really going for the Texans is the fact that they do have a franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson, but assuming Bienemy will have his options, who is to say Bienemy can't go to New York or Atlanta where he can choose his own quarterback to work with in the draft like Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields? On top of that, Bienemy should want to go to the NFC ideally because if you go to the Texans will you have a decent team? probably. But you're also still in a conference with Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. This isn't to say the Texans are an awful team. They have won the division a majority of the time under Bill O'Brien, but as mentioned, the organization just seems to be heading in the wrong direction because of the bad roster management.
Bienemy is a great coach and he also coached running backs in Kansas City before he was promoted to offensive coordinator so he is offensive-minded and knows many aspects of the game so of course an organization with a great quarterback will want someone like Bienemy who has worked with Mahomes to work with Deshaun Watson. On the flip side of all the negatives to the Houston job, you cold say that Bienemy has had a tough time getting hired so he should take the opportunity while he has it if the Texans offer, but to put it bluntly, the Texans are a disaster and Chiefs fans want to see Bienemy succeed and Houston just wouldn't be a great spot especially considering the fact Bienemy would still have to face the Chiefs frequently to get anywhere.
Houston is just a tough sell and while they're a fairly big market, their fans will be eager for positive change after having a lot of disappointment and if Bienemy weren't to deliver success quickly, he could have a short leash. Bienemy should go for another team with a better direction.
Comments