Eric Bieniemy surprised a lot of people when he became the offensive coordinator at UCLA, but the coach wants everyone to know that it was his own choice to leave the NFL.
In an email to ESPN on Saturday, Bieniemy said any reports about him having been fired by the Washington Commanders are not accurate. The 54-year-old said he chose not to remain in Washington and that he was offered an assistant head coach/running backs coach job by another NFL team.
“I have no regrets with the Commanders. Contrary to what some think and what has been put out in the media, I was not fired,” Bieniemy wrote. “I actually just chose not to stay. Learned a lot and that is always a good thing.”
Bieniemy added that he has had “countless conversations and interviews with many teams” and that he has “been applauded and lauded” throughout the NFL.
The Commanders hired Kliff Kingsbury as their new offensive coordinator. New head coach Dan Quinn then confirmed that Bieniemy would not remain with the team. While Quinn did not say Bieniemy had been fired, that is what has been reported.
Why is it so important to Bieniemy that people think he left on his own terms? It wasn’t that long ago that he was receiving multiple requests to interview for NFL head coach jobs. Most of that interest came during the back end of Bieniemy’s tenure with the Kansas City Chiefs, which lasted from 2013-22. Bieniemy even became the face of a movement where he was frequently cited as an example of alleged racial discrimination when it comes to coach hiring practices in the NFL.
Bieniemy definitely has a lower-level job now than the one he had a few weeks ago, but he insists he was not forced to make the move.
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