Up until 2019, betting on the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl would have sounded like a good way to lose money. The team hadn’t won a Super Bowl since 1969 and had only started to regularly appear as division champions after 2015. But now? It’s no surprise that they’re among the top NFL teams this season. There are a lot of reasons why they are popular among NFL betting picks writers as a favorite. It all comes back to one man: head coach Andy Reid.
In his eight years with the Chiefs, Andy Reid has brought a level of stability that the team hasn’t had since the 1990s. With most of the head coaches since the great Marty Schottenheimer only lasting two or three seasons, it was impossible for the team to really develop a consistent strategy or build up the talent they had on the field. Reid’s recent hospital stay had fans and players alike worried about what the future might hold. Thankfully the big man in red has been given the all clear and is back at work. So, who is the man that led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years?
Early years
In the 1980s, Andy Reid began his coaching career as an offensive line coach. He spent nine years coaching at the college level, getting experience working with the coaching staff of four different colleges. Between 1983 and 1991, he worked at San Francisco State (the so-called ‘Cradle of Coaches’), Northern Arizona University, University of Texas El Paso and the University of Missouri. Working under coaching greats like Vic Rowan gave Reid the opportunity to hone his own style of leadership.
Reid made the jump to coaching in the NFL when he was hired by the Green Bay Packers in 1992. He spent the next six years with the Packers, first as the offensive line and tight ends coach and later as the quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach. The Packers’ 1996 Super Bowl win ensured that teams looking for a new coach would keep Reid in mind as he had made important contributions to the team’s success.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles gave Reid his first chance as a head coach and were rewarded with some of the best seasons in the franchise’s history. Despite a handful of poor seasons, Reid’s 14 years with the Eagles saw him lead them to the best win total (120), highest winning percentage (.609) and playoff victory total (10) in the team’s history. After the disastrous 2012 season where the Eagles finished with a 4-12 record, management decided that it was time to take the team in a new direction and chose not to renew Reid’s contract.
Kansas City Chiefs and coaching style
Since 2013, Reid has been the head coach of the Chiefs. In that time, he has led them to five consecutive AFC West championship wins and two Super Bowl appearances. He currently has a win percentage of .702 with the Chiefs. Many of his seasons with the Chiefs have included losing streaks at either the start or the end of the season. These rough patches only seem to encourage his players to play harder as they have still finished nearly every season with a winning record. In 2017, the Chiefs drafted quarterback Patrick Mahomes and he quickly became a star. He was named Super Bowl MVP after his performance against the 49ers, the youngest ever. Reid has nurtured Mahomes’ talents and in return has found a quarterback who is able to carry his leadership onto the field.
Reid has been described as a “player’s coach” — he would rather accept blame for a poor performance than publicly chastise any of his players. He has stated in an interview that his coaching philosophy is based on treating his players how he would like to be treated, and that open communication is essential. He feels that once you “have to scream and holler to get across” to a player, then it’s no longer an open forum based on trust and honesty. This approach might not work instantly for every player, but Reid’s record as a coach should be enough to convince anyone that he just might be on to something.
Will Reid be able to keep the Chiefs at the top of the NFL in the coming seasons and could this year see another Super Bowl appearance? It’s too early to tell but given his record and the talent under his leadership there’s a chance he just might.