USC fired head coach Clay Helton after two games, ending his six-plus-year tenure. The Trojans might look to a high-profile NFL coordinator to fill the vacancy.
NFL sources believe Eric Bieniemy will be a candidate for the job, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets, adding that this particular position is one of the only college gigs for which the Chiefs offensive coordinator will consider leaving the NFL. Bieniemy has been with the Chiefs since Andy Reid’s 2013 Kansas City arrival, but he coached at the college level before moving to Missouri.
Bieniemy, 52, has gone through an interesting chapter during his accomplished OC run. Thought to be a slam-dunk hire in both the 2020 and ’21 offseasons, he has failed to land a head-coaching job. Taking over as Kansas City’s OC from Matt Nagy, who followed Doug Pederson in being hired for an HC post, Bieniemy has been in this role throughout Patrick Mahomes‘ dominant run as the Chiefs’ starting quarterback.
While it would make sense for Bieniemy to stay in arguably the NFL’s top coordinator situation and continue to pursue an HC job at the highest level, USC is certainly a high-end college gig. Bieniemy is not the Chiefs’ primary play-caller, which has affected his perception at the NFL level, but working with Reid and Mahomes essentially ensures he will have a vital role on a top-tier NFL offense. It would seemingly take a monster offer to convince the veteran coordinator to leave these friendly confines.
A Colorado alum, Bieniemy has experience coaching in Los Angeles, having been UCLA’s running backs coach in the 2000s. His top college role to date was as his alma mater’s offensive coordinator from 2011-12.
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