Andy Reid Says Eagles Didn't Actually Request Interview With Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy

The Philadelphia Eagles fired head coach Doug Pederson in January after a 4-11-1 season. This news prompted questions about whether the team would interview Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, a rising name among candidates. However, head coach Andy Reid says that the Eagles never reached out.

"No, there was no formal interview form sent in," Reid told reporters on Wednesday, per NJ.com. "They had talked about it, but there was nothing formally sent." The head coach faced questions about whether the Eagles' choice may have had something to do with not wanting to hire another coach from his tree. "No, not at all," Reid responded.

The Eagles examined several different options for the head coach position after parting ways with Pederson and ultimately hiring former Colts OC Nick Sirianni. The team met with Panthers OC Joe Brady, former Eagles running backs coach Duce Staley, Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Cowboys OC Kellen Moore, and Saints DC Dennis Allen. The Eagles also interviewed eventual Jets coach Robert Saleh and Arthur Smith, who became the Falcons head coach.

Bieniemy met with multiple teams following the end of the regular season. The list of teams included the Jaguars, Falcons, Lions, Chargers, Jets, and Texans. The Eagles were not among this group despite entering the initial search with 25 potential candidates on the list.

Reid does not know why the Eagles and other teams did not hire Bieniemy, but he has intentions of finding out. "I did have the opportunity to talk to a lot of the either owners or general managers that worked to interview him, presidents, and so on," Reid said, per NFL Media's James Palmer. "So, I'll be curious to hear their comments about how he did or why he wasn't picked."

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie spoke about the process after the hiring of Sirianni and revealed that interviews with potential head coaches take anywhere between seven to 10 hours. They entered the process with 25 names but cut that group down to 10 before conducting interviews. The team discussed several topics with the candidates, such as the sport and leadership.

"[W]ith lots and lots of research, [we] narrow it," Lurie said, per Pro Football Talk. "In this case we narrowed it to 10. We interviewed 10 candidates. Again, I was blown away by the quality of these candidates. The NFL is lacking in slots, not in candidates. I'm really glad to be able to say that."