16 Denver Broncos head coach options with Vic Fangio out

6. Eric Bieniemy, Kansas City Chiefs OC

Eric Bieniemy has become a really testy subject among football fans everywhere.

Nobody can figure out why he doesn’t have a job just yet, but everyone has an opinion about it. Every year, major NFL reporters tweet out about their disbelief over Bieniemy not being someone’s head coach.

Detractors will say that Bieniemy has troubling off-field history and that he has ridden the coattails of Andy Reid in Kansas City.

You’re also not getting Patrick Mahomes as part of a package deal.

Still, Bieniemy has been part of one of the winningest organizations in the NFL for nearly a decade now. At the age of 52, his time to get a shot as an NFL head coach is probably way past due.

The Broncos with John Elway and Matt Russell in charge did not seem to seriously consider Bieniemy back in 2019, and it’s possible that has something to do with Bieniemy having aforementioned off-field issues including at one point being banned from the Colorado-Boulder campus for an entire year.

George Paton, to some degree, has a working history with Bieniemy from their time together with the Vikings. Bieniemy was the Vikings running backs coach from 2006-09 and Paton joined the Vikings in 2007.

How much will the off-field history play into his chances of getting a head coaching gig in 2022? Will George Paton as the GM give Bieniemy a shot in Denver?

This one could be interesting to follow. It will be fascinating if Bieniemy even gets an interview.