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Sunday Playoff Thread: Conference Championship Games

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As before, Texans-specific convos happen in the Weekend Discussion thread. This thread is for talking about the NFC and AFC Conference Championship games. First kickoff, Bucs vs. Packers, is set for 2:05 p.m. CT on FOX. Watch the two videos below to get acquainted with the NFC & AFC matchups.

Daily Thread 1-23-2021: Weekend Discussion

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Enjoy the weekend! There’ll be a playoff game thread that posts on Sunday at 5:00 a.m. CT for Sunday’s Conference Championship games. First game will be a 2:05 p.m CT kickoff for Bucs vs. Packers, and I think one thread will be enough for that game and the Bills vs. Chiefs game at 5:40 p.m. CT. If not, I can make a new thread for the 2nd game if necessary.

Daily Thread 1-20-2021

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Recap of yesterday’s events: Patrick Storm and Texans Thoughts both decided to more or less stop caring for now, but I scooped them both because I did it first. Deshaun tweeted song lyrics…again. If the Browns are the Factory of Sadness, then the Texans are the Gulf Coast Port of Despair. Good times. /this is fine .gif

Daily Thread 1-29-2021

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As of midnight last night, no further updates or reports or rumors hit the interwebs regarding where things stand after Eric Bienemy’s interview with the Texans yesterday. There were some clues that EB might be in the lead for the job, but no solid intel that indicates that an agreement is near.

I’m not sure who the source is, but this particular tweet didn’t mince words and wasted no time getting to the point.

One of the clues involved the Eagles having requested, just a few days ago on January 16, to interview Bienemy. Brian Daboll announced he was returning to the Bills for 2021. Daboll is said to have had no interest in the Eagles HC opening, prompting John Lopez to put forth his speculation as to why Daboll more or less didn’t think the Eagles job was worth his time and energy even if he were to be asked to interview by the Eagles.

The gang at Texans Unfiltered has been on a decent, steady climb with their production of nearly non-stop Texans news, rumors, “sources say” stuff, and various commentary pieces such as breakdown videos and podcasts and live streaming video sessions on the regular. The tweet below was posted in the comments area yesterday, but here it is again. This is admittedly another one of things that you have to wonder a) Who is their source(s), and b) if it’s someone within the Texans organization…how the hell has the person not been discovered yet by the organization? Here’s the tweet that gives some rather specific information.

That was about it for the day. Who knows where things go from here. The Texans sort of closed out the day by letting people know who they’ve interviewed recently. I anticipated that it would be EB and that an announcement would be released that an agreement had been made by the end of the day or sometime Monday evening, but I came up snake eyes on my hunch. Where do you think things go from here?

Daily Thread 1-18-2021

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A January 4, 2021, article by USA Today (see below) takes a deep dive into the topic of Black coaches seeking head coaching jobs in the NFL, and in particular Eric Bienemy’s personal journey to become a head coach in the NFL. The article contains other noteworthy bits of useful information, as well. I encourage everyone to click the link and read the full article.

If you wonder about Eric’s past indiscretions, there is an entire segment of the article (it’s titled “Overcoming A Controversial Past”) devoted to that topic. It’s been nearly three decades since those days at the University of Colorado, and one of the things mentioned in that segment of the article is that earlier in 2020 the University of Colorado contacted Bienemy to inquire if he had interest in taking the head coaching job there.

Be sure to read my notes at the end, below. It’s about Excerpt #5.

Eric Bieniemy is ready to be a head coach. Which NFL team will finally take him?
By Jarrett Bell, USA Today (January 4, 2021)

Excerpt 1: “I’ll just say this: Anybody who works in any organization or any job, they want to be rewarded for the right reasons,” Bieniemy told USA TODAY Sports. “When somebody wants to hire me, that will be the best job that has found me and that will be the best job that I have found. Because we connected. So, when it comes to hiring, I can’t control what goes on in the owner’s head. I can’t force them to make the decision. My job is to make sure that when I’m in there giving that interview, I’m being my most authentic self. They get to see me, feel me for who I am and what I’m about.

“But on top of that, if they don’t see all the things that will help them grow as an organization, that’s okay. Because guess what? I have an opportunity here to work with a Hall of Fame head coach, we’ve got some great people here who happen to be great football players and we’ve had a great deal of success. I enjoy what I do.”

That was Bieniemy’s response when asked the inevitable question: Does he feel that being Black has prevented him from landing a head coaching job?

Excerpt 2: Bieniemy interviewed for seven jobs over the past two cycles — the Bucs, Jets, Dolphins and Bengals in 2019; the Browns, Giants and Panthers in 2020 — and will be back in line in the coming weeks.

“The most frustrating part has been the reasons that teams come up with for why he wasn’t hired,” Brian Levy, Bieniemy’s agent, told USA TODAY Sports. “Some of them are ridiculous.”

Levy said he’s been told that, for example, Bieniemy was passed over because he doesn’t call plays. That didn’t stop others who worked under Reid, including current coaches Matt Nagy (Bears) and Doug Pederson (Eagles) and former coach Brad Childress, from getting their shots. Nor did that stop the Bengals from hiring Zac Taylor from Sean McVay’s staff with the Rams. 

“All of a sudden, it’s a problem,” Levy said.

Excerpt 3: Besides, Reid, who didn’t call plays as tight ends coach on Mike Holmgren’s staff with the Packers during the 1990s, insists that he shares play-calling duties with Bieniemy.

“He calls plays, I call plays,” Reid told USA TODAY Sports. “Or, ‘What do you think here?’ ‘Okay, go with it. Let’s roll.’ That’s how we go. We check our egos at the door, all the way around. We’re trying to win. I have that relationship where it doesn’t matter who calls what. If you’ve got an idea and you’re strong about it, let’s go with it.”

It is Bieniemy’s voice that Mahomes hears in his helmet when the plays are relayed from the sideline. Each week, Bieniemy memorizes the play-call sheet and sometimes sending the play to Mahomes involves quickly translating what Reid is thinking as the play-clock ticks.

Explained Bieniemy: “He’ll say, ‘E.B., give me 34 Webster.’ Well, the play might be ’34 Webster Read Easy.’ So, I’ve got to call it. Here’s the formation: ‘It’s Trips right. Bunch nasty. F left O. 34 Webster. Read easy.’ But the thing is, it’s a collaborative effort.

“He can finish my sentences and I can finish his,” Bieniemy said of Reid. “That’s how tied to the hip that we’ve become.”

Levy said he’s also been told that Bieniemy wasn’t the choice because the team was looking for someone with previous head coaching experience.

“You don’t ever get it, if you don’t get it,” said Levy, who has represented coaches for 19 years.

Now think of some of the NFL’s best coaches. Start with Super Bowl winners Sean Payton, Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh. There’s also McVay who took the Rams to Super Bowl LII. And don’t forget Flores, who has quickly turned the Dolphins into a playoff contender. What do they all have in common? They landed their jobs without previous head-coaching experience.

Levy was also stunned by what he felt was a lack of due diligence by the three teams that interviewed Bieniemy during the most recent cycle.

“None of the teams called on any of his references last year,” Levy said. “Eye-opening for me. I can’t tell you who they were told to call, but they didn’t call the top-of-the-food-chain guy that they should have been calling.”

Excerpt 4: Levy describes Bieniemy as a passionate, disciplined leader with strong messaging. When he talked up “CEO qualities” that would enable Bieniemy to connect with all players, regardless of positions, and various departments throughout an organization, it brought to mind the analogy used this year when the Giants hired Joe Judge, a former special teams coach.

Excerpt 5: Even the hottest coaching prospects can only engage in so many interviews with potential suitors — especially while in the playoffs. Candidates from teams that play on wild card weekend can’t have an initial interview until the following week, which could still be a bit complicated if a coach is preparing for a divisional playoff game. Candidates whose teams advance to the Super Bowl, though, can engage in second interviews during the bye week after the conference title games.

It’s a strange dynamic of the hiring cycle: Prospects with the most successful teams are at a disadvantage. They can’t fly to the headquarters for lengthy initial interviews. Interested teams are put on hold, which could lead to choosing another candidate. There’s a musical chairs-type competition for coordinators and position coaches, who may have other options beyond waiting out the decision on the head coach.

Chalk up the tight interview windows among lessons learned. In 2019, Bieniemy interviewed with four teams over a five-day span but declined a request to interview for the Arizona job that ultimately went to Kliff Kingsbury. Although he was crushed by the calendar — an interview with one team extended into the evening with an interview with another team scheduled to begin at 8 the next morning — it’s striking that he would have turned down a request. Kingsbury went on to land Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick in the draft and in his second season the Cardinals can earn a playoff spot by beating the Rams on Sunday.

Levy defends the decision to not interview with the Cardinals, maintaining that they capped interviews at four teams.

“The teams that we committed to were the first teams that called,” said Levy. “At that point, we couldn’t do any more. Even last year, we were like, ‘We’re just doing three.’ He can’t do more than that. Four was too many and five would have been absurd.”

That could be interpreted as a message for teams interested in Bieniemy. If, say, eight teams are in the market, there’s no guarantee that he will be interested in interviewing with every team. Factors such as the existing quarterback (or plan to acquire a quarterback), salary cap space and the chemistry with the GM amid the organizational power structure will be weighed in ranking teams.

OMB notes:

Eric Bienemy and his agent have placed Eric into interviews with every single one of the seven teams who had (or still have) head coach vacancies this hiring cycle: Jaguars, Jets, Falcons, Lions, Chargers, Texans, and Eagles. Now that he is in his third consecutive hiring cycle, as a candidate for head coaching jobs, it appears that Eric and/or his agent have decided that it’s time to end their previous stance on limiting interviews.

Circling back to the article excerpt 5 from above:

  • Factors such as the existing quarterback (or plan to acquire a quarterback), salary cap space and the chemistry with the GM amid the organizational power structure will be weighed in ranking teams.
    • QB: Watson vs. Wentz
    • Salary Cap 2021: Texans -$17.8m vs. Eagles -$51.6m (OverTheCap)
      • NOTE: The Eagles and Texans cap situation is about the same for 2022 at around mid-to-upper-$40m in cap space and 31 players under contract (Eagles) and 32 players under contract (Texans). Wentz becomes more easily a cap casualty after 2021 due to dead money situation.
    • Chemistry with the GM amid the organizational power structure: Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad, right?? HOL. Sigh…

It remains to be seen if this will be the third hiring cycle that Bienemy fails to get the nod for a head coaching job. It’s down to two teams. If there was a situation where both teams offer EB the job, I cannot help but think that the Eagles cap situation and QB situation factors heavily (more heavily, in fact) into EB’s decision-making vs. that of the Texans. The third component is of course a concern if I’m EB, regarding that pesky organizational power structure that exists with the Texans.

The question to answer is this: Would the Texans and/or the Eagles decide this week to hire one of the candidates not-named-Eric-Bienemy, or would they wait this week out and beginning Monday, January 25 they would then seek their respective virtual interview with Bienemy during the bye week?

  • The Texans requested Bienemy on January 12
  • The Eagles requested Bienemy on January 16
  • Both teams missed a previous window to interview due to the timing of their requests to interview. Both teams must now wait for that chance until after the Chiefs AFC Conference Championship game vs. the Buffalo Bills this coming Sunday evening (January 24) has ended:
    • If it’s a Chiefs loss, EB is free to interview and there likely would be some combo of virtual and possibly in-person interview since a Chiefs loss would mean no need to worry about the risk for EB to become infected with COVID-19 (and take that bug back to the Chiefs coaches & players) via a personal trip to meet with the Texans/Eagles. No Super Bowl = lesser COVID-19 rules, I would imagine at least.
    • If it’s a Chiefs win, EB is free to interview only during the 1st week of the 2-week layoff that leads up to the Super Bowl. I believe the interview must be virtual only due to COVID-19 restrictions and subsequently it’d be pretty bad if he caught the bug when traveling to and from the Texans/Eagles and then potentially risking spreading it to Chiefs coaches and players in the build up to the Super Bowl game.
    • So either way, EB will be free to interview, in some manner, with both teams beginning Monday, January 25.

Sunday Playoffs Thread

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I’d like to remind people that the Weekend Discussion thread, Part II, is the place to talk about you-know-what. We want the game threads to stay mostly about the game on TV.