Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy has responded after his former star LeSean McCoy predicted him to fail, and it's fair to say he's not too concerned.
Bieniemy left his role at the Kansas City Chiefs shortly after they won Super Bowl LVII, and joined the Commanders to put his expertise to the test. Bieniemy is very well respected in his field, but has long-term ambitions to become a head coach - with this move potentially boosting his chances.
However, former Chiefs running-back McCoy commented on the move, and didn't hold back as he predicted his ex-offensive coordinator to fail. Bieniemy gave a classy response when asked about McCoy's comments, saying that "everyone is entitled to their opinion."
Rather than fight fire with fire, Bieniemy took the moral high ground when responding to McCoy's comments, showing his class. "He's a future Hall of Fame runner. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion," Bieniemy said.
"That's life, You got good, you got bad. It doesn't impact me in any way. The one thing you learn in this position is you have to eliminate distractions.
"My job is to focus on the now. Everything outside these walls has no impact on Eric Bieniemy moving forward." McCoy's comments came as a surprise, as although he claims he doesn't want Bieniemy to fail, he questioned his authority and even his ability as a coach.
"I hope he doesn’t (fail), but I think he will," McCoy said when appearing on FOX’s Speak For Yourself. "What’s his value? What makes him a good offensive coordinator?
"See the problem is, a lot of these people who go on social media, ‘Oh, he should be the guy for the job. They haven’t played there, they’re not in the locker room. They’ve not been in the rooms where he’s coaching. He has nothing to do with the passing game at all. The plays are designed, that’s Andy Reid.
"When you’re talking about offensive coordinators, I can tell you what makes Brian Daboll with the Giants a very good (head coach). I can tell you what Andy Reid or Doug Pederson, but when I ask about Eric Bieniemy, what makes him good?
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"When we watch the film of practices and we correct the WRs, the RBs, the QBs, he doesn’t talk in there, Andy Reid talks in there. He may say things to the running backs because he’s an ex-running backs coach. I get that. But he has no real responsibility.
"Now you go from the Chiefs where you can hide behind Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. Now, you can go to Washington where you’ve got to call plays, you’ve got to run the meetings, you’ve got to run the installs."
Bieniemy will be able to have the last laugh if he can inspire change at the Commanders, and with head coach Ron Rivera being more defensive minded, it'll give him more freedom offensively. Time will tell, but regardless of his input, Bieniemy has helped the Chiefs win two Super Bowls.
