After Gruden Fired, Eric Bieniemy Favored to Be Redskins Head Coach in 2020; Odds for 50 Candidates

• Washington has fired Jay Gruden after an 0-5 start
• Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is favored to be the Redskins’ head coach in 2020
• There are 50 candidates on the board, so handicapping this prop is no easy feat

On Monday, the Washington Redskins fired head coach Jay Gruden. Now the debate has begun on who should take over the team. Eric Bieniemy, currently the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator, is the favorite to take over at +350.

Is he a good bet or is there value elsewhere on the extremely extensive list of betting options?

Odds to Be Washington Redskins Head Coach in 2020

*Odds taken 10/7/2019. 

Bieniemy Is The Favorite

It’s no surprise that Bieniemy is among the favorites to land the Washington Redskins’ job. He’s the offensive coordinator of what many people might consider to be the best offense in the NFL. That being the case, he’s going to get a lot of attention from any team looking for a new leader at season’s end.

Of course, Bienemy is part of the Andy Reid coaching tree, which is among the most impressive in the history of the NFL. Doug Pederson, who worked under Reid, is now thriving in Philadelphia as the Eagles head coach. Matt Nagy, Sean McDermott and Ron Rivera are other good examples of successful Reid assistants.

The question for Bieniemy is whether the Redskins are the right spot for him. The franchise actually has a decent amount of talent on the field but they’re viewed as a mess in the front office. Rumors are that Gruden didn’t want QB Dwayne Haskins, the team’s first-round pick in 2019, but owner Daniel Snyder jumped in and made the choice.

Bieniemy might want to hold out for a better situation – maybe somewhere like the Atlanta Falcons, a team with a lot more offensive talent in place.

Would Tomlin Head To Washington?

One of the more interesting names in the rumor mill is Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Typically, we only see coordinators and former coaches being thrown around as possible hires, but Tomlin is still employed with the Steelers, the same job he’s had since 2007.

Although Tomlin remains employed in Steel Town, it does feel like his time is set to expire soon. Pittsburgh has had plenty of success during his tenure but they missed the playoffs last year, lost Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell in the offseason, and are now 1-4 on the season.

Already playing without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the status of backup Mason Rudolph is now in question, as well. He left their Week 5 game after a scary hit to the head, relegating the team to undrafted rookie Devlin Hodges. This will wind up a lost season for the franchise, and they might want a fresh start next season – especially if Big Ben decides to retire.

The Redskins are not shy about trading their draft picks so maybe a swap of Tomlin for a second-rounder would work for all parties.

Leftwich Seems Like A Good Bet

The Redskins rarely make good decisions from the front office, so I’m going to bet they do something silly like hiring Byron Leftwich. He was actually favored last week. It’s not that he’s bad but he’s highly unproven as an offensive coordinator; he fell into the offensive coordinator role at Arizona last year and is now doing the job at Tampa Bay.

Washington is likely to look around the league to find offensive minds and they’ll probably get rejected by all of the A-listers. Leftwich, who was a coaching intern as early as three years ago, will probably love the opportunity to jump to head coach this soon.

It’s wouldn’t be a good hire by Washington, but that’s exactly what they do. They won’t be able to lure a guy like Bieniemy, who will be highly sought after for more attractive openings. I expect the Redskins to go off the board and do something (stupid) that nobody is expecting.