Ravens latest OC hire could lead to important piece remaining in Kansas City

In the latest breaking news to come out of the league’s coaching carousel, the Ravens announced they will not be hiring Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy as their offensive coordinator. 

On Tuesday, the Baltimore Ravens hired University of Georgia’s Todd Monken as their next offensive coordinator, causing Chiefs fans to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

The Ravens had been linked to Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy for the past few months, a potential lateral move for Bieniemy which would have given him a new change of scenery nonetheless.

Bieniemy’s name constantly gets thrown into the offensive coordinator and head coaching pool season after season as his decorated coaching record in Kansas City speaks for itself.

Bieniemy started in Kansas City as a running backs coach in 2013 and worked his way up to offensive coordinator in 2018. Since then, he’s helped the Chiefs win two Super Bowls and has established himself as one of the most important coaching pieces in the franchise behind Andy Reid.

The shrewd play-caller, who is a free agent this offseason, may be out of the running for the Ravens’ offensive coordinator position, but he’s still being considered for the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator position in 2023.

Ravens passing over Eric Bieniemy is the best thing to happen to the Chiefs this offseason

Some Chiefs fans may naturally have different opinions on Bieniemy: in the Chiefs’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts during the 2022 regular season, Bieniemy and Patrick Mahomes were seen arguing with each other to the point where Andy Reid had to break them up.

Following the Chiefs’ second Super Bowl win in 2022, any ill or hostile feelings between the two may have turned into water under the bridge, and the rare sidelines flare-ups are grossly overshadowed by Bieniemy’s Midas touch effect on Kansas City’s offense for the last half decade.

Patrick Mahomes won league MVP and Super Bowl MVP the year after the Chiefs traded their best wide receiver and arguably the best deep threat in the league: Tyreek Hill. Where other teams may have crumbled in the wake of such an earth-shattering move, Bieniemy helped mold the offensive scheme to adapt to Hill’s absence — and clearly, the Chiefs’ offense hasn’t skipped a beat since the shake-up. Their 2022 Lombardy Trophy is rock-hard proof of that.

In the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, Bieniemy played a crucial role in exploiting the Eagles’ coverage, turning one of the best defenses in the NFL into Play-Doh in Mahomes’ hands.

Would Bieniemy be as good as he is without Mahomes? Maybe not. But the opposite arguably rings true, too.

After serving as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator for five years, Bieniemy remains one of the hottest coaching commodities out there and has many wondering why he hasn’t received more head coaching offers at this point in his career.

Other teams’ losses are Kansas City’s most underrated treasure.