Eric Bieniemy versus D’Anton Lynn in UCLA-USC football: let the chess match begin!
D’Anton Lynn knows his opponent in this year’s USC-UCLA football game. Eric Bieniemy was hired by UCLA football as its new offensive coordinator.
The UCLA Bruins search for an offensive coordinator is over. Shortly after Eric Bieniemy’s name began to gain steam, a report came out that he was finalizing a two-year deal with UCLA, per Adam Schefter of Pete Thamel of ESPN.
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Bieniemy is headed to UCLA as associate head coach and offensive coordinator as new head coach DeShaun Foster gets a veteran presence on the sidelines.
This move by DeShaun Foster puts Bieniemy up against new USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who was UCLA’s defensive coordinator last season. Let’s take an early look at this matchup.
MAXIMIZER
It is hard to deny the claim that Eric Bieniemy maximized Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense when he was there. The Chiefs developed a frighteningly potent offense which reached three Super Bowls with Bieniemy as Andy Reid’s offensive coordinator.
2023 CHIEFS
The 2023 Chiefs won the Super Bowl with Mahomes’ help, but they mostly won with defense. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy didn’t do nearly as well as Bieniemy did in developing the Chiefs’ offense, though to be fair, the Chiefs’ 2023 receivers weren’t as good as what Bieniemy had. Still: 2023 showed how well Bieniemy did before Matt Nagy came aboard.
BIENIEMY IN WASHINGTON
Bieniemy didn’t do well with the Washington Commanders, though people will reasonably say he didn’t have much to work with in the first place.
WHAT IF
Imagine an alternate universe in which Washington coach Dan Quinn had retained Bieniemy and the Commanders traded up to draft Caleb Williams and give him Bieniemy as a play-caller. We’ll never know what this pairing could have done, because it won’t exist, at least not in 2024 and 2025.
LYNN'S FUNDAMENTALS
D’Anton Lynn’s emphasis on fundamentals is meant to provide reliable positioning and tackling against Bieniemy’s creativity. It’s a clash of styles and a battle of elite minds in football.
LYNN'S DISGUISES
Lynn said earlier in February that he wants to make a little seem like a lot. This means he wants his defensive players to have simple concepts they can use to diagnose plays, but within formations and alignments which create the outward appearance of complexity. Lynn’s simplicity disguised as complexity will try to snuff out Bieniemy’s nuanced play designs. It’s a football lover’s dream matchup.
BIENIEMY'S LIMITATION
Eric Bieniemy won’t have Patrick Mahomes at UCLA. He won’t have Caleb Williams. He will have someone much worse. He can diagram all the fancy plays he wants, but will he have the dudes who can make big plays? D’Anton Lynn has more to work with at USC in terms of raw talent when matched up against UCLA’s offensive personnel.
