Getty Steelers Now's Alan Saunders proposed the idea of Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers hiring Eric Bieniemy as the team's pass game coordinator.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been connected to lots of different quarterbacks through potential trades, free agency and the draft early this offseason. That’s to be expected based on the team’s production at quarterback in 2023. But more surprisingly, the media has also linked the Steelers to numerous assistant coaches in staff rumors, including Eric Bieniemy.
Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders argued on February 5 that Bieniemy appears to be the best possible candidate to be Pittsburgh’s new pass game coordinator.
“Once considered the top of the crop of NFL offensive coordinators and a sure-fire head coach prospect, Bieniemy’s star has lost some of its shine after a middling season with the Washington Commanders,” wrote Saunders.
“But he certainly has the passing game expertise to help Arthur Smith develop a more-potent unit on that side of the ball. After a lot of talk about the Steelers mining the coaching tree of Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay, why not go for a former assistant of the guy that’s in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years — especially one with a link to Mike Tomlin?”
Saunders argued for the Steelers to consider Bieniemy two days after SI.com’s All Steelers’ Noah Strackbein reported that the Steelers were planning to interview candidates for a new offensive assistant role on the team’s coaching staff.
Should the Steelers Hire Eric Bieniemy as Pass Game Coordinator?
Strackbein reported on February 3 that the Steelers were interviewing Tom Arth, Charles London and Zach Azzani for its offensive coaching staff.
Arth and London had passing game coordinator in their 2023 titles with the Los Angeles Chargers and Tennessee Titans, respectively. Azzani served as New York Jets wide receivers coach in 2023.
It’s difficult to argue, though, with Saunders’ suggestion that Bieniemy is a better candidate for Pittsburgh than any of those three coaches.
Under Bieniemy, the Washington Commanders finished 24th in total yards and 25th in points scored during. But Bieniemy was far more successful with the Kansas City Chiefs.
As Chiefs offensive coordinator, Bieniemy led Kansas City to top 6 finishes in yards and points each year from 2018-22.
It obviously helped that Bieniemy had Patrick Mahomes at quarterback in Kansas City. Head coach Andy Reid also called plays.
But Bieniemy’s influence with the Chiefs could be of great use to a Steelers offense looking to make a significant jump with its passing game in 2024.
Bieniemy has 16 years of NFL coaching experience. He spent 10 of those seasons as an assistant on Reid’s staff in Kansas City.
Bieniemy was the Chiefs running backs coach from 2013-17 before becoming offensive coordinator.
Other Assistants the Steelers Could Consider
Saunders didn’t stop at Bieniemy. He also suggested Hines Ward for the team’s open wide receiver position and Mike Vrabel for a senior defensive assistant role.
Saunders isn’t the first to float the Steelers as a landing spot for either coach. Steelers Depot’s Joe Clark and AtoZ Sports’ Rob Gregson both connected Ward to the Steelers after The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported on February 5 that the team was not retaining wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson.
“One name on the market that will surely be linked to Pittsburgh is former Steelers wideout Hines Ward, who was replaced as head coach of the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas and was an offensive intern with the Steelers in 2017,” Clark wrote. “He also served as an offensive assistant for the New York Jets and wide receivers coach at FAU.”
Both Strackbein and Stephen Thompson of All Steelers Talk argued for the Steelers to hire Mike Vrabel on February 2.
“It’s a pretty one-way street there. If Mike Vrabel wants to come, the Steelers should want him to come,” Thompson said. “I don’t know how much an assistant like that would get paid or anything.
“But I think you almost write him a blank check and say, ‘Yeah, we’d love to have you here.’”
Furthermore, on February 4, Steelers Now’s Nick Farabaugh argued that the Steelers should consider hiring Pep Hamilton.
Clearly, there’s no shortage of coaches the media considers a candidate for Pittsburgh.
Steelers Depot’s official X (formerly Twitter) account made a joke about that fact on February 5.
“So, it seems like the consensus is that the Steelers should have a 53-man coaching staff.”
To be fair, the Steelers have traditionally featured one of the smallest coaching staffs in the NFL. The team is overdue for staff expansion.
Whether it should happen with big-named additions, though, is another debate.