There was a time when football — all of football — was ruled by dudes who really, really hated when anyone tried to be different.
Former Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was apparently one of those dudes.
Commanders guard Sam Cosmi told a bizarre story to The Washington Post’s Candace Buckner about a rule Bieniemy tried to enforce on offensive players in 2023, during his one season as offensive coordinator.
“Last season, Eric Bieniemy came to town to run the offense,” Buckner wrote. “And he brought with him a new title that gave him power — and some asinine rules that made no sense. Including a rule about hats and how grown men should wear them.”
As could be expected, the rule landed with a thud among players. Much like everything else Bieniemy tried to do.
“Last year, I was not allowed to wear my hat backwards (in the building). So that’s a little fun fact there,” Cosmi told Buckner. “That was something that we as players, offensive side, we weren’t allowed to wear our hat backwards.”
Eric Bieniemy’s Tenure Was Disaster From Start
The gist of Buckner’s article was about a culture change under new head coach Dan Quinn — who wears his hat backwards — and included less concern with how people are wearing their clothes and more focus on winning.
Winning wasn’t something associated with the Commanders during Bienemy’s brief tenure.
Bienemy was offensive coordinator in essentially name only with the Kansas City Chiefs through three Super Bowl appearances and two wins. It was a situation where he was third in the pecking order when it came to calling plays behind head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes — something obvious to almost anyone who ever watched a Reid-coached or Mahomes-quarterbacked team play.
Desirous to prove himself out on his own, Bieniemy came to the Commanders under head coach Ron Rivera and rubbed people the wrong way almost immediately. Within the first months after he was hired, players began approaching Rivera to complain about Bienemy’s brusque coaching style.
Bieniemy went full third person — never a good sign — in his comments to Sports Illustrated about the players’ complaints.
“Eric Bieniemy is who he is,” Bienemy said. “Eric Bieniemy knows how to adapt and adjust. Eric Bieniemy is a tough, hard-nosed coach — but also understand I’m going to be the biggest and harshest critic — but also their No. 1 fan because I’ve got their back.”
The Commanders’ “No. 1 fan” guided one of the NFL’s worst offenses to a 4-13 record in 2023 as they averaged 19.4 points per game. Bieniemy was fired almost immediately after Quinn was hired in February 2024, and he was hired as the offensive coordinator at UCLA in March.
Who Is Running Commanders’ Offense Now?
The Commanders may have found the perfect offensive coordinator for the 2024 season in former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who has had little to no success as a head coach at Texas Tech and in the NFL but was a successful offensive coordinator at the University of Houston and Texas A&M.
Kingsbury, who coached two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech, will get a chance to guide the career of another up-and-coming quarterback in Washington with rookie Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
