Apart from pride, the 4-9 Washington Commanders have little to play for in the next four games of the season, and with an eye toward next year, the fates of several coaches, including Ron Rivera, have come under scrutiny.
With Jack Del Rio and Brent Vieselmeyer ousted following the blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and the Commanders season in tatters, many more are expected to be sacked by the end of the season.
As there is so much uncertainty surrounding the organization and what it could look like next year, are there some coaches who are worried about their future?
“I’m surprised that it’s the first time it’s come up,” offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said. “But as coaches, we have to live in the now, that’s the only way that you can survive. You can’t worry about what’s taking place around you, the only thing that matters is today. I got to make sure that I’m accountable to our coaching staff, I got to make sure that I’m accountable to our players, I got to make sure that I’m accountable to this entire organization.”
When Bieniemy was hired as offensive coordinator/assistant head coach, the feeling from the outside at least, was that he is the head coach in waiting. Whether or not that is true or not is unknown, but if Washington does part ways with Rivera at season’s end, Bieniemy might finally get a head coaching job.
But with so much talk surrounding how things will look next season, Bieniemy isn’t interested in any voices from outside the organization.
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“I can’t worry about the outside noise and everything that’s taking place,” Bieniemy said. “I got to make sure that today, we can go out and win on third downs, making sure that I’m giving our guys the best chance of being successful on Sunday to go out and win. That’s the only thing that matters. Then after that, we’ll start thinking about the next opponent, which will be the [New York] Jets. You have to live in the now, if you are thinking about everything else, you can’t get a job done if you’re focused on all the things that are outside. I learned this a long time ago, eliminate distractions.”
Related: Commanders Firings Coming, Who Might Be Spared?
Removing distractions is a hard thing to do, especially when there is so much speculation surrounding the Commanders right now. With new ownership, there was always going to be change, and we have seen that already.
But given the type of season Washington has had, we imagine that there will be several more changes coming at the end of the season.
Is Bieniemy the Commanders’ head coach in waiting? We might not have too long to find out.
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