Let me take you back in time to about 2021. The KC Chiefs were dominating the AFC standings averaging more than 28 points per game. The Offensive Coordinator was Eric Bienemy and when he was interviewed for some head coaching vacancies and did not get any of them, lots of sports pundits suggested racism was at play. Bienemy returned to the Chiefs for the 2022 season for another dominant season where the team averaged over 29 points per game. Once again, no head coaching offers came his way and he left the Chiefs – – ostensibly to get out from under the shadow of Andy Reid there – – and became the Commanders’ Offensive Coordinator in 2023.
Once again, columnists and TV talking heads danced around the “racism flagpole” asserting that such a lateral move to prove oneself would not happen to a white Offensive Coordinator. Let me insert here for the sake of clarity:
- Racism exists in the United States in 2024. Notwithstanding the twice-elected Barrack Obama as President of the United States, this is not a “post-racial society” that we live in today. Eric Bienemy may indeed have been given higher hurdles to cross than white coaching candidates were given. And, until we know the inner workings of the minds of the people conducting the interviews and making the hiring decisions, that can only be a conjecture.
Picking up the story … Eric Bienemy came to the Washington Commanders with great fanfare; all through the offseason and in training camp he was portrayed as a tough-love coach who held everyone accountable for every assignment – – whatever that means specifically. And then the 2023 season began.
- In 2022, the Commanders were 8-8-1 and scored a total of 321 points (18.9 points per game). It was the Commanders’ stingy defense in 2022 that produced that even record not the offense.
- In 2023 with Eric Bienemy directing the offense – – basically the same personnel as in 2022 – – the Commanders were 4-13-0 and scored a total of 329 points (19.4 points per game). The Commanders’ defense fell apart and the defense was mainly responsible for the collapse in the record.
However, look at the offensive production. The addition of Eric Bienemy and his “coach ‘em up” abilities increased point production by all of 8 points in 17 games. The existence of racism in the United States has no bearing on those numbers. The sports pundit class was silent at the end of the Commanders’ 2023 season on the subject of the mediocre team offense; the pundits were far more focused on the new team ownership group needing to clean house and get a new coach to create a new culture for the team – – and I do not recall any of them beating a drum for Eric Bienemy to be that new coach.
They say that a new broom sweeps clean, and Eric Bienemy lost his job in Washington with the arrival of new owners. But he landed the job as the Offensive Coordinator at UCLA which was moving into the Big-10 Conference for 2024. So how did that work out?
- In 2023 – – while Eric Bienemy toiled with the Commanders – – the UCLA Bruins averaged 26.5 points per game. They ranked 70th in the country in scoring in 2023; that is certainly not impressive.
- In 2024 – – with Eric Bienemy in charge – – the UCLA Bruins averaged 18.4 points per game. They ranked 126th in the country in scoring in 2024; that is certainly even less impressive than the 2023 performance.
Once again, the existence of racism in the United States has no bearing on those numbers. And late last week, Eric Bienemy was fired by UCLA as their Offensive Coordinator. His agent said that this was the plan all along and that Eric Bienemy had always expected to return to the NFL for the 2025 season. We shall see; my guess is that he will do so and will likely do so as an Offensive Coordinator once again.
I have no quarrel with Eric Bienemy; my “issues” are with the sports punditry class which is now dead silent about how he has been held back by obvious racial motivations. Might they not even suggest that perhaps – – just maybe – – they were wrong in alleging racism over the past several years? Is there no room to suggest that perhaps Eric Bienemy’s laudable performances in KC with the Chiefs had a to do with the presence of Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce – – not to mention Andy Reid.
Like sports columnists and TV talking heads, I too am in the business of offering opinions on things related to sports. And one of the guarantees that comes with being in the business of offering opinions is this:
- If you have not yet been wrong in any of your opinions, you soon will be.
For example, I offered my opinion that Tom Brady would not be a good color analyst because I did not think he ever looked comfortable behind a microphone. I believe I was wrong in that assessment; Tom Brady has obviously worked on “learning the ropes” of sports broadcasting; he is significantly better now than he was back in September. He is not John Madden as a color analyst – – and may never become that good – – but he has improved well beyond what I would have expected. I was wrong.
Prior to the start of NFL seasons, I predict – – offer my opinion – – on how the regular season will turn out. And then, in January or February, I go back and point out where I was right and where I was wrong. It is usually slightly embarrassing to do so, but the fact that I continue to do so proves conclusively that it is not fatal to offer a wrong opinion.
I do not know why Eric Bienemy never got the call to be a head coach. If indeed any hiring official denied him a chance as a head coach based even in a small part by his skin color, I would need to consult a Thesaurus to come up with a list of unflattering adjectives to describe that hiring official. But I can never know that to be the case, and it is exactly that inability to know that to be the case which makes it improper to assert that it is or has been the case.
Sports organizations in the US have shown that they have a way of dealing with racism when it is known and proven to exist. Marge Schott was forced to sell the Cincinnati Reds; Donald Sterling was forced to sell the Los Angeles Clippers; George Preston Marshall was forced to integrate his team and organization. Obvious racism existed in those cases and the sports world reacted to correct those situations. If similarly obvious racism comes to exist related to Eric Bienemy’s coaching career, precedent says that the sports world will not allow it to continue to exist. There is no benefit to be derived from sports pundits emulating “The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf”.
Finally, let me close today with these words from Professor Alan Dershowitz:
“I think that lawyers are terrible at admitting that they’re wrong. And not just admitting it; also realizing it. Most lawyers are very successful, and they think that because they’re making money and people think well of them, they must be doing everything right.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
Brave of you…well done…GRL
Gary … :
Thank you.
Perhaps we will learn more from a trial of the lawsuit against the NFL by a group of Black coaches who have alleged racism in head coach hiring, if that case is still ongoing – I’ve heard nothing about it since all the hullabaloo around its filing.
Wayne:
If that action ever goes to trial in open court, it could shed light on situations involving coaches who have signed onto that legal action. And I suspect – – I don’t know but i suspect – – that there will be some things brought to light there that will be sordid at best.
And if that is the case, that will still not change the stats I cited here. Two things can be simultaneously true:
1. Perhaps there is racism at play in coach selection in the NFL – – AND – –
2. Perhaps Eric Bienemy is not as good an Offensive Coordinator as he has been made out to be.
Before the NFL season began around Sept. 8, I said the Raiders could win many games if the defense held the opposition under 20 points. I was wrong in that assumption. After Sept. 29, The Silver and Black held the opposition to under-20 points one time–and they lost that game as well.