Andy Reid is no stranger to even the casual football fan. Reid is a 3-time Super Bowl-winning head coach in the NFL and is currently coaching the Kansas City Chiefs football team. A long-time coach in the league, his accomplishments and offensive wizardry have made him one of the best coaches to have ever coached in the professional league.
Known for his love for cheeseburgers, he is often referred to as ‘Big Red’ from his younger days as he had red hair and was quite big even then. Reid as a person is one of the best coaches to have on a football team. The time and effort he spends on analyzing, planning, and executing is something very few other coaches can match up to. And perhaps that is why he has received his share of success albeit it was long overdue. Reid also has an old-school approach to his coaching style as it is often cited by how hard Chiefs training camps are compared to other teams and it is this type of practice which makes his team play much sharper on any given Sunday.
How Andy Reid became a coach
As a young kid, Reid was always interested in sports in one way or the other. In college, Reid used to play as an offensive tackle at Glendale Community College in California and was planning to transfer to Stanford. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury and that thwarted his plans. However, he was accepted at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah the following year.
Reid did not get much playing time on the football team but he was very interested in analyzing the coaches and their methods. Moreover, Reid was constantly asking his coaches questions and engaging in conversations related to the game. Seeing the fire in Reid, his BYU head coach at the time LaVell Edwards suggested that he should consider coaching as a career that has eventually given rise to one of the greatest football coaches ever.
When did Andy Reid start coaching the Chiefs?
Andy Reid was appointed the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs on January 4, 2013, for a five-year term. As of today, Reid and the Chiefs are enjoying a long-lasting partnership for over 11 seasons.
The signing of Reid with the Chiefs was somewhat of a marriage made in Heaven as both sides required a fresh start. Prior to singing with the Midwestern team, Reid was a longtime head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. After having 9 winning seasons out of his 14 in Philadelphia, his last two years saw the team decline in performance and as a result, the Eagles decided to go in another direction and not extend Reid’s contract.
On the other hand, the Chiefs themselves were going through a very lean patch struggling at the bottom of their division for most of the previous years. In search of a change in culture within the team, bringing in Andy Reid, a proven winner at the time, was definitely the right choice for the organization.
How Andy Reid has changed the Chiefs
When Big Red started in Kansas City, one of the most important things he along with his coaching staff did was to rebuild the roster. By acquiring Alex Smith as the quarterback, they spent time and effort in drafting the right pieces for the entire puzzle to come together. Key players such as Eric Fisher, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and more were added in between the years to help the team get to a point where they were ready to fight for the Championship.
Reid also came to the new city with his staff and used their help in rebuilding all three formats of the game- the offense, defense, and special teams. Adding the pieces together year by year and working his magical offensive mind, Reid completely transformed the Chiefs' offense and made the franchise a regular postseason contender.
Now, the final piece of the puzzle was to find a quarterback who could run the offense better than the veteran Alex Smith and help the team get over the last hurdle. In 2017, Reid found his man in Patrick Mahomes and developed him into the superstar that we know already in just six years. As of September 2024, Reid will be entering his twelfth season with the Chiefs, has a boatload of accomplishments on his resume and the entire Chiefs Kingdom can thank him for the 3 Super Bowl victories, 4 Super Bowl appearances, 6 straight AFC conference games along with much more.
FAQs
A. Andy Reid’s Big Red nickname goes back to his youth days when he had red hair and was quite big even back then.
A. Andy Reid has a regular season record of 258–144–1 as a head coach as of September 2024.
A. While the salaries of coaches are not as public as the players, it is believed that Andy Reid is earning a salary around $20 million annually according to Sportico.
