KANSAS CITY, MO. • Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy is currently employed with a Super Bowl-contending team.

ESPN’S Adam Schefter, however, reports that sources believe Bieniemy will rise as a head-coaching candidate for the vacant USC job, which became available after the Trojans fired Clay Helton over the weekend.

It’s important to note that Schefter used the word “believe” in his report, suggesting nothing was set in stone in the pursuit of Bieniemy as of Tuesday.

The report, though, make sense when considering the 52-year-old Bieniemy, who was born in New Orleans, grew up in Southern California and even played for the then-san Diego Chargers.

Bieniemy’s name has come up multiple times over the past three years as a viable candidate for an NFL head-coaching gigs. But he continues to be spurned by NFL teams despite strong public endorsements from Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and head coach Andy Reid.

Over the past two offseasons alone, Bieniemy is known to have interviewed with the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers and

Miami Dolphins, among other teams.

Bieniemy, who has been with the Chiefs since 2013, also spurned a potential opportunity to fill the head-coaching vacancy at Colorado, his alma mater, in February 2020.

Bieniemy was also a member of Colorado’s 1990 national championship team under then-coach Bill Mccartney, the same year he finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He is still the Buffaloes’ all-time leading rusher (3,940 yards) as well as all-purpose yards (4,351).

Reid is scheduled to speak with the media Wednesday, while Bieniemy is scheduled to talk Thursday. The offensive coordinator’s potential interest in USC will surely come up as a topic of discussion.