NEW ORLEANS — Five years ago, Andy Reid stepped onto an elevated stage at what was then Marlins Park in Miami, decked out in a signature Tommy Bahama Kansas City Chiefs polo shirt, tan khakis and a white Chiefs hat.
At the time, Reid embraced the NFL’s biggest spotlight, sporting a wide smile underneath his signature mustache while facing heavy expectations — back then, the biggest storyline surrounding the veteran NFL head coach was his inability to win a Super Bowl.
A throng of reporters were ready to lob all sorts of questions at him — both serious and wacky — ahead of Super Bowl LIV, where Kansas City was set to play the San Francisco 49ers.
But Reid took the time to wink at a Utah-based journalist when asked about his alma mater, BYU, during the Super Bowl Opening Night event inside the Miami Marlins home.
That night was the start of a week when the narrative surrounding Reid began to change, as his Chiefs rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.
Fast forward five years, and Reid and the Chiefs are the juggernauts of the NFL. But they still face daunting expectations, after Reid and other selfless leaders like owner Clark Hunt, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones, brought the team to the precipice of history.
On Sunday (4:30 p.m. MST, Fox), Kansas City will be playing in its fifth Super Bowl in the past six seasons, as the Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome in Super Bowl LIX.
If the Chiefs win, it will be their third-straight Super Bowl title, something that’s never been accomplished before.
While there are plenty of big names surrounding the Kansas City dynasty, Reid stands at the head of it all.
Hunt, who’s been along for the ride with Reid since the head coach took over in Kansas City 12 seasons ago, pointed to two traits that the beloved head coach is known for — and why this franchise is experiencing an unprecedented run of success under its future Hall of Fame coach.
“One, is he’s incredibly consistent. If you talk to the players that played for him, you know 10-plus years ago if they came into a Chiefs practice today they would probably say, ‘Boy, this reminds me of exactly the way that Andy ran it eight to 10 years ago,’” Hunt told the Deseret News during this year’s Super Bowl Opening Night event on Monday. “It didn’t matter whether it’s preseason, regular season, playoffs, Super Bowl, he has the team focus on the fundamentals, focus on all the details week-in, week-out.
“And then secondly it’s how he relates to the players and his coaching staff. He builds a personal relationship with them, the players know that he cares about them as individuals. And as a result, they’re willing to go out there and put it all on the line. At the same time, he’ll hold them accountable.”
That right there is what Hunt sees in Reid that separates him from so many other coaches.
“That’s another side of that coin. You know, there’s this term, a ‘players coach,’ and you know, a players coach builds great relationships but they don’t hold people accountable. He does both,” Hunt said.
Over the past five years, the Deseret News has been on hand for every Super Bowl appearance for Reid and the Chiefs, sans the COVID-19 year when Kansas City lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In those other four seasons, some consistent themes emerged when discussing what Reid means to the Chiefs and to the football world in general, and why this historic coach stands out among the crowd.
What makes Andy Reid, Andy Reid?
Consistency and teaching
Earlier this week, the 66-year-old Reid shared what continues to draw him back to the football field each season.
“I enjoy teaching. I don’t get caught up too much on stats and all that stuff, but I enjoy being around the guys. I enjoy football, the game,” he said. “Can’t put in the hours that you do and not enjoy it. So I really, I love the game.”
He’s been a coach in some form every year since his college playing days ended at BYU in 1981.
The former offensive lineman started off as a graduate assistant for the Cougars for one season, spent the next decade at the collegiate level, then took an NFL job as an assistant in Green Bay under another former BYU coach, Mike Holmgren, for seven seasons before becoming an NFL head coach in Philadelphia in 1999.
He’s spent the past 26 seasons as a head coach, 14 with the Eagles and 12 with the Chiefs.
His experience as a player helped feed his success as a teacher, both current and former players say.
“He knows so much about the game. He even grabs me sometimes and says, Hey, did you see this, this linebacker come down? You see their stances. You can see movement of groups and small stuff like that,” first-year Chiefs offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia told the Deseret News. Suamataia, like Reid, is a former BYU tackle.
“You don’t really catch it in the heat of the moment, but obviously that’s why there’s practice and you go through the reps. Coach Reid’s a great teacher. He knows so much about the game inside and out.”
Another former Cougar, safety Daniel Sorensen, echoed those sentiments five years ago. Sorensen played for Reid from 2014-2021 and won a Super Bowl title in Kansas City back in the 2019 season.
“Any chance he gets up in front of us — team meetings or on the field and he’s coaching us up — you can kinda see the way he approaches things,” Sorensen said. “He likes to break things down, he likes to teach, he likes to take those opportunities to teach. He does it in a personal way.”
That teach-first mentality has cultivated a byproduct — consistency.
Reid has 301 career wins as an NFL head coach, including the regular season and postseason. That stands fourth all-time, and his 28 playoff victories is second only to Bill Belichick.
While Reid’s inability to win a Super Bowl in Philadelphia became an overarching theme during his time there — the Eagles lost to New England in Super Bowl XXXIX under his leadership — Reid has flipped that script in Kansas City.
The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls under Reid, and a fourth Sunday would tie him for second all-time in Super Bowl victories by a head coach with former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Knoll.
It’s a resume that makes Reid a virtual lock for a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when his coaching days are done — several of the game’s best coaches who sit near the top of these NFL coaching wins lists he keeps climbing are already Hall of Famers.
The man who will be on the opposite sideline Sunday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, pointed to Reid’s ability to fine-tune the details as another source of his success.
“I have so much respect for Coach Reid and his staff and the detail,” Sirianni said this week. “I think the detail kind of moves us off the tape with the way they run block, with the way they are always on the same page. You have to be ready to prepare for everything.”
That process of stressing the fundamentals carries over into the offseason — the Chiefs are well-known for running tough training camps and OTAs.
“Obviously, it starts with Coach Reid and the culture that he’s built,” said Mahomes, who is a three-time Super Bowl MVP. “I think, throughout this entire team, you have a lot of guys that love the process of starting from the bottom and having to build your way back up there. And we understand what it takes to get to the Super Bowl, and we know it’s not easy.
“Instead of just trying to go out there and go through the motions, guys know that they have to put this work in to get to this position. It starts with Coach Reid and the culture that he’s built, but the team has a lot of guys that want to do what it takes to win.”
Reid, for his part, also understands that when facing moments like the Super Bowl — where an overemphasis on the magnitude of the moment could cause undue stress — consistency and focusing on the game plan are the best solutions for preparation.
“The most important thing for the football players and coaches is that you function well in the biggest game of the year,” Reid said. “You want to do that every week, but the magnitude of this is, there are two teams standing. We all know that we’re playing for a championship.
“It’s important that you focus in on the game plan, how you handle it, so that you can master it by the time you get to Sunday.”
Creativity and culture
Reid and his coaching staff have shown a penchant for crafting creative plays for critical moments in each of their three Super Bowl wins — play calls with names like “Wasp,” “Corn Dog” or “Shift to Rose Bowl Right Parade.”
Will there be another come Sunday?
A fresh-faced journalist dared to ask that question Tuesday.
“Oh boy,” Reid said, chuckling. “I don’t know that. Time will tell. Ask me that after the game.”
Reid’s trademark innovation has left an impression on Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, a hot name in NFL coaching circles who is reportedly the lead candidate to take over as the New Orleans Saints head coach.
Moore will have his chance to match wits with Kansas City on Sunday.
“They’re always innovative. They’re always trying new things. They’re always finding the next edge, which is really cool,” he said.
Those trick plays are a microcosm of the type of fun-loving culture that Reid has built in Kansas City.
Part of that culture is rooted in his faith — Reid is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he’s unafraid to share that side of him without being overbearing.
During Monday’s Super Bowl Opening Night event, Reid was asked what his favorite book trilogy is.
Without hesitation, he responded, “How about the Bible, The Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price. I like ‘em all,” Reid said, in reference to the books that compose the scriptures in the Latter-day Saint church.
Suamataia said he sees how Reid carries kindness and caring learned from his Latter-day Saint teachings over into the way he manages the team, “that mentality on this team, the way we move, the way we operate things.”
Kelce has been with Reid every year since he arrived in Kansas City, and said the way he’s able to connect with people resonates with the players.
“I think it’s been so fun just being able to build this legacy here in Kansas City with him, knowing I came in with him here in 2013,” Kelce told the Deseret News.
“Who he is as a coach is a very good reflection of who he is as a person. He cares about everybody’s livelihood, just as much as he cares about a football game. It just makes it fun for everybody who plays for him.”
Former Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, who’s now in New Orleans but won Super Bowl LIV with Kansas City, was impressed by Reid’s emphasis on family.
“You can tell that he’s a guy that’s about the people,” he told the Deseret News back in 2020. “I can remember some of our first conversations and it’s all about family, it’s all about team, it’s all about being who you are. He makes us feel comfortable.”
Sirianni has noticed that connectivity as well.
“You can tell he deeply cares about his players. Those are the things you know, not ever having been around him, I can kind of look to and admire because I do like to study great coaches,” the Eagles coach said.
Reid knows how to keep it light, even amid the seriousness of the moment — on Thursday, members of the team broke out in chants of “Whoa-oh!” when the song “The Kids Aren’t Alright” by The Offspring started playing over the speakers, according to pool reports.
“They know that it’s a privilege and an honor to be here, but at the same time they want to make sure they enjoy each day,” Reid said. “That’s the thing you probably see. This group has kind of been that way the whole year; it’s a unique group that way.”
Accountability and trust
Among the traits that Reid has also developed is an ability to challenge his players, but also be forgiving when the situation presents itself.
“Coach Reid, he brings his personality every single day, and that makes everybody feel so comfortable being in the building with him, but at the same time, he challenges guys. He gets the respect out of every individual in that room,” Kelce said.
That ability to push his players and demand their best can be reflected in numerous cases where Reid has put his trust in players who were looking for a second chance.
Much has been made about running back Kareem Hunt’s return to the Chiefs.
He was originally drafted by Kansas City and spent 2017 and part of the 2018 season with the team before he was released on Nov. 30, 2018, after video surfaced of Hunt pushing a woman to the ground and kicking her in a hotel during an altercation.
At the time, Hunt said the Chiefs were justified in releasing him, after he wasn’t truthful with the organization about the incident, he told ESPN.
No charges were ever filed, though Hunt was suspended for the first eight games of the 2019 season by the NFL for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
Hunt spent the past five seasons playing for the Cleveland Browns. He was a free agent this year when Chiefs running back Isaiah Pacheco was injured, and Kansas City re-signed him.
Hunt ended up rushing for a team-high 728 yards and seven touchdowns during the regular season, and in the postseason, he has rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
“Coach Reid and I have a great relationship,” Hunt told the Deseret News, while saying he’s “learned the hard way” from his mistakes but it’s made him a better man.
“(Andy) has always been in my corner, ever since he drafted me here. And I have nothing but the most respect for him. He’s just one of those guys who wants the best for me.”
This year, guys like wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and left tackle DJ Humphries have also been given a chance to step up for Kansas City after never having gotten anywhere near the Super Bowl during the first decade-plus of their careers.
When Hopkins was traded to the Chiefs midseason by the Tennessee Titans, where the three-time first-team All-Pro admitted his love for the game was waning, he noticed when Reid — even in Hopkins’ first game for Kansas City — trusted him enough to call plays for Hopkins in critical moments.
“Since I’ve been here, Andy has taught me a lot of lessons on how to be a pro. I thought I knew how to be a pro, and I’ve been playing 12 years, and he’s pushed me to be an even better professional,” Hopkins said. “And not just that, but an even better person and leader. I’m very grateful. Everything he says, I absorb mentally.”
Reid called out the leadership qualities he’s noticed in Hopkins, a valuable trait with younger players like rookie Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith Schuster and Marquise Brown.
“That whole senior leadership part that he’s brought, I really appreciate it,” Reid said of Hopkins. “And he’s a unique route-runner. He knows how to set things up and he’s shared that with some of the guys. I appreciate that part, too.”
The trust Reid has shown in others, in turn, has led to trust from the organization as well — last April, Reid signed a contract extension with Kansas City through the 2029 season.
It’s worth a reported $100 million over five years — or $20 million a year — and made him the highest-paid head coach in U.S. sports at the time, according to Sportico.
What does his future look like?
Earlier this week, Reid confirmed he intends to return to the Chiefs for the 2025 season.
“Yeah, I’ll be back,” he said, matter of factly.
That squashes any speculation post-game Sunday that Reid might retire if Kansas City makes history with its third straight Super Bowl win.
This run of success can be attributed in large part to Reid, by using skills and a consistent approach that hits home with his players, finally finding the winning formula — and combining it with some top-end talent — to flip the script he was facing five years ago.
“I think the narrative on Andy has really changed over the last five years. He used to be at the top of that list of the best coaches who had never been able to win a Super Bowl,” Hunt said.
“And over the last five years his legacy and the narrative around him has completely changed. I think he’s now regarded, rightfully so, as one of the best coaches in the history of the National Football League, he just passed 300 wins and is in a very small club of four people who have done that. And to move up the list in terms of Super Bowl appearances and Super Bowl victories, all the accolades that he is receiving are very, very well deserved.”
