Report: USC might pursue Bieniemy
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is currently employed with a Super Bowl-contending team.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, however, reports that sources believe Bieniemy will rise as a head coaching candidate for the vacant USC job, which became available after the Trojans fired Clay Helton over the weekend.
The report, though, make sense when considering the 52-year-old Bieniemy, who was born in New Orleans, grew up in Southern California and even played for the then-San Diego Chargers.
Bieniemy’s name has come up multiple times over the past three years as a viable candidate for an NFL head-coaching gigs.
But he continues to be spurned by NFL teams despite strong public endorsements from Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and head coach Andy Reid.
During the past two offseasons alone, Bieniemy is known to have interviewed with the Texans, New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins, among other teams.
Bieniemy, who has been with the Chiefs since 2013, also spurned a potential opportunity to fill the headcoaching vacancy at Colorado, his alma mater, in February 2020.
Reid is scheduled to speak with the media Wednesday, while Bieniemy is scheduled to talk Thursday. The offensive coordinator’s potential interest in USC will surely come up as a topic of discussion.
Who else could be a candidate at USC?
Is this the job that draws Bob Stoops back to college coaching? The former Oklahoma coach will be spending a lot of time in Los Angeles this season as part of Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show.
Mario Cristobal just registered maybe his most significant victory as Oregon coach, beating Ohio State with a team loaded with the type of high-end California recruits who have traditionally gone to USC. Would he be tempted to move south so he doesn’t have to persuade those players not to go to USC?
Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell has a team poised to be in the playoff conversation and was hired to coach the Bearcats by athletic director Mike Bohn. Could the former Ohio State Buckeye embrace a Hollywood lifestyle?
How about another Ohioan, Matt Campbell of Iowa State? Does the shine come off Campbell if the Cyclones don’t turn out to be the playoff contender they were hyped to be?
Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck would seem to have the personality to stand up to the spotlight. As does Penn State’s James Franklin.