Washington’s training camp is 13 days old, and several players have already whined about new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
He’s too demanding, they say. He’s too intense. His standards are too high.
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“We’re in a grown man’s business. We’re in a grown man’s world. My job is to make sure I’m doing the best possible job of over-communicating and clarity. I take a tremendous amount of pride in that,” Bieniemy said.
“When I’m getting on them, ain’t nothing personal. What’s personal is I want us to win. I expect a particular player to be great at all times. I expect the effort to be a standard reachable by all of us, so when you’re not reaching that, it’s my job to address it.
“Sometimes, they may like the highlights and the praise. Sometimes, they may not like it, and I’m perfectly fine with that because that’s my job. If I’m not doing my job, my ass will get fired.”
What’s worse? The players took their complaints to coach Ron Rivera or the coach telling them to take it up with Bieniemy.
“One of the biggest things is — I had a number of guys come to me, and I said, ‘Hey, just go talk to him.’ I said, ‘Understand what he’s trying to get across to you.’ I think as they go and they talk, and they listen to him, it’s been enlightening for a lot of these guys,” Rivera said.
“… I mean, guys from certain programs are used to it. Guys coming from other programs aren’t as much. So, as a coach, I kind of have to assimilate and get a feel for everybody. Eric has an approach, and it’s the way he does things, and it’s not going to change because he believes in it.”
Eric Bieniemy’s championship pedigree
Why would he? He’s been winning championships the past few years, while this franchise has won nothing.
Rivera opened his news conference Wednesday by providing context for his comments.
He read from a statement.
Rivera said Bieniemy’s message to the offense has been to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
“Doing things on the offensive side has changed. Change is hard,” Rivera said. “I’ve always encouraged our players to have dialogue and build relationships with our staff.
“Since those conversations with Eric and the players, I’ve seen improvement.”
Plus, Bieniemy played nine seasons in the NFL without ever having more than 98 carries or 43 receptions, a testament to his survival skills. The 54-year-old Bieniemy, whose career ended in 1999, has vowed not to alter his standard.
“There are some new demands and expectations that I expect,” Bieniemy said. “I expect us to be the team we’re supposed to be. It’s not gonna be easy, and everybody ain’t gonna like the process.
“But when it’s all said and done with, my job is to make sure that we’re doing it the right way. There’s a way to do it. Now, do they understand that? Yes, ’cause they’re seeing the results. Will everybody buy in? I believe so. But if not, it’s OK, because you know what? My No. 1 job is to help take these guys to another level, and I can see it.”
Washington has won double-digit games three times since winning the 1991 Super Bowl. The Commanders have three NFC Wildcard wins in the same span.
Washington finished fourth in the NFC East last year, the fourth time in the previous 10 years. In Rivera’s three seasons, Washington has won seven, seven, and eight games — the Commanders project to finish last in the division again.
Bieniemy had been the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator from 2018-22, and its running backs coach the five years before. The Chiefs have played in three of the last four Super Bowls, winning two.
Bieniemy has interviewed 15 times for head coaching jobs without getting one. He joined Washington to prove he could run a prolific offense, and he was never going to get that credit with the Chiefs because of coach Andy Reid’s influence.
“I’m always going to be loud, and I’m always going to be vocal. I’m always going to demand from my leaders. But on top of that, I’m watching everything: body language, how we address in the huddle, how we’re getting up to the line of scrimmage, how we’re presenting ourselves,” Bieniemy said. “Those things are important because you’ve got to send a message to the defense. So I want our guys to understand that we’re not taking anything for granted.”
Jean-Jacques Taylor is an NFL Insider for Sportsnaut and the author of the upcoming book “Coach Prime“, with Deion Sanders. Follow him on Twitter.