Eric Bieniemy spent nearly eight hours with the Saints in-person today. Interview just wrapped up. And now New Orleans will get to work on narrowing the head-coaching search.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 7, 2022
No one can say the New Orleans Saints aren’t doing their homework in the search for Sean Payton’s successor. They spent “nearly eight hours” meeting with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on Sunday, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, and he’s expected to be the final candidate they meet with. After reaching out to nine different coaches about the job, the Saints ultimately interviewed six of them. Now it’s time to whittle down their list and focus on finalists for the job.
And Bieniemy made a strong case. The Athletic’s Katherine Terrell spoke with Saints general manager Mickey Loomis earlier this week, who said their meetings with head coach candidates have typically run up to six hours. As to the content of this long-running conversation, well — that’s between Bieniemy and Loomis. But they obviously had plenty to discuss.
We should expect some movement in the days ahead as the Saints circle back for any second interviews or inform other candidates that they’ve fallen out of consideration. And they could just come out and announce their new head coach first thing Monday morning after sleeping on it. It’s a very fluid situation, but it’s clear that Loomis and the team brass have put in the work to make an informed decision. Their process has been commendable. Let’s hope it leads them to make the right call.
