LAS VEGAS — While others have brought it up, Andy Reid isn’t paying much attention to the historic achievements that could come to pass if the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in this year’s Super Bowl.
He’d rather keep the focus on the game ahead and the team aspects of football — and not an individual accomplishment — before Sunday’s matchup (4:30 p.m. MST, CBS).
“He’s top class in everything he does. He expects greatness from every single person in the organization — players, coaches, staff, etc. — and he’s someone you want to play for.” — Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis on Andy Reid
“That’s not where I go with all that,” Reid told reporters Tuesday. “We’re trying to teach about the 49ers, and you take yourself out of it. You take all that stuff out, this is a team sport and you focus in on that group.”
If Reid wins a third Super Bowl as head coach, he would become the fifth head coach ever with three or more Super Bowl wins.
As of now, the head coaches who have won three or more Super Bowl titles are as follows:
- Bill Belichick — six Super Bowl wins (all with New England Patriots).
- Chuck Noll — four Super Bowl wins (all with Pittsburgh Steelers).
- Bill Walsh — three Super Bowl wins (all with San Francisco 49ers).
- Joe Gibbs — three Super Bowl wins (all with Washington Redskins).
Noll, Walsh and Gibbs are all enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Last month, Belichick and the Patriots agreed to part ways, but he is a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer.
That’s the kind of company Reid is skyrocketing toward, as he prepares to take the Chiefs to their fourth Super Bowl in the past five seasons.
There’s a word — dynasty — being floated around what is going on with Reid in Kansas City, if the Chiefs can pull out the win over the 49ers.
There’s good reason for that.
If Kansas City wins the Super Bowl for the second straight season, it would be the first time an NFL team has won back-to-back championships since the New England Patriots accomplished that feat to cap off the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Reid, who has 25 career playoff wins, was cautious about any talk of a dynasty, and how focusing on that could take away from the task still at hand.
“I think the best answer I can give you is, when you’re in the mix of things like we are, you don’t really look at that. You’re so focused in on the next game,” he said. “I think if you make that your focus, you’re probably going to have a problem and get knocked off whatever pedestal people think you’re on.
“There’s too much parity in this game to take your energy and put it in that direction. We’re focusing on this game here against a great football team. It’s going to take all our energy to do well against them.”
Even with all the hype, Reid remains stoic in his preparation, all while displaying the affable attitude that has endeared him to players, fellow coaches and the media during his 25 seasons as an NFL head coach.
He knows nothing is guaranteed when Kansas City plays San Francisco in the Super Bowl on Sunday (4:30 p.m. MST, CBS) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Always teaching
At his heart, Reid is a teacher — a few years back during BYU football media day in 2017, the former BYU player and grad assistant defined what makes a great coach.
“Anybody can learn the schemes, given enough time,” he said then. “But everybody can’t be a great teacher. The ability to communicate and know people, have some people skill, I think is important.”
And now, about his current group of Chiefs that are one win away from a third title in five seasons?
“I’ve got good guys I’m surrounded with that are fun to coach. I like to teach,” he said.
His players sense that, from the veterans like MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce to the younger starters like center Creed Humphrey or defensive end George Karlaftis.
“He’s top class in everything he does. He expects greatness from every single person in the organization — players, coaches, staff, etc. — and he’s someone you want to play for,” Karlaftis said.
“He’s an amazing leader, challenges everyone to get better every single day and he’s just someone you really want to play for, someone you have so much respect for. He has this aura of greatness working around him and you definitely don’t want to disappoint him.”
Humphrey and Matt Bushman, a Chiefs practice squad tight end who also played at BYU, talked about how Reid has built a winning culture.
“The way he builds the culture in the room, throughout the facility — he’s got guys going full speed at all times, and it’s really impressive,” said the third-year pro Humphrey.
Added Bushman, “He’s probably the hardest worker in the building, the amount of hours he spends early mornings, very late nights. Being able to just learn his process and everyone respects that because he put so much into this. Everyone respects that and you just want to be your best self around him.”
Chiefs general manager Brett Veach echoed those sentiments, while adding that Reid thrives off being a caring mentor.
‘A life mentor’
“He’s an educator by nature and he spends as much time (talking) with people about their wives and their kids as anyone. That’s a big deal for him,” Veach told ESPN’s Adam Teicher. “It’s like he’s not just a coach but a life mentor to so many people, and I think that’s gratifying to him in so many ways. Not having that would be a struggle for him because he feeds off the positive energy, and he feeds off giving back.”
Which gets us back to Sunday’s game, and beyond.
His philosophy on not becoming overwhelmed in moments like the Super Bowl — where the spotlight is even brighter — is to take an even-keeled approach.
“You take a humble approach to the game, period, because any given Sunday could be a good thing or a bad thing,” Reid said. “You’ve got to maximize yourself and respect your opponent, then maximize the effort you put in to play the game with game plans, knowing it like the back of your hand. That’s how we go about it, it keeps you somewhat level.”
Even now, with Mahomes in his prime and no indication that Kansas City’s successful run is nearing an end, the 65-year-old Reid has to deal with questions about retirement.
“Am I retiring? Listen, my mom and dad told me this when they were working. They said you’ll know when it’s time,” Reid told reporters Monday. “And I’m ready to go right now. Let’s go.
“That’s what they would tell me when I was young. I was an inquisitive kid, and so that’s the way I look. Somewhere, you’re going to know when it’s time. Today’s not the day.”
Reid, if he joins the other four head coaches who’ve won three Super Bowl titles, will be the same, no matter the outcome.
He lives to teach, and he loves football.
“He loves football so much,” Mahomes told Teicher. “Even in the offseason, he’ll text me, ask me questions, do I like this play or do I like that play? He loves being around the game and being able to enjoy it. We’re having so much fun. It’s not so much the winning. We legit have so much fun at the building that I think it would be hard for him to walk away.”
