Andy Reid remains underappreciated despite the Chiefs Super Bowl appearance

Andy Reid remains underappreciated by some fans despite having built the Kansas City Chiefs into a Super Bowl team and consistent winner.

As a little kid growing up in Kansas City, I didn’t get to go to as many Chiefs games as I would have liked. I was part of a large family, which meant going to games was expensive, and there were a lot of other priorities at the time.

As I got older and as my Chiefs fandom continued to grow, it became a priority of mine to make it to Arrowhead at least once or twice a year to share in the experience. My wife and I were lucky enough to go to the 2019 AFC Championship, and it was an event we will never forget.

As I watched the crews set up the championship stage with the Chiefs heading to Super Bowl LIV and a throng of sad Tennessee Titans fans filtered out of the stadium, the question occurred to me. Are we in Chiefs Kingdom appreciating this experience for what it’s actually worth? Sure, after Patrick Mahomes legendary run at the end of the first half, the Arrowhead faithful chanted “MVP! MVP!” for what seemed like minutes. When Andy Reid climbed to the stage to accept his second championship trophy in his head coaching career, the crowd showed their love by chanting his name in similar fashion.

Still, do we really appreciate the masterful transformation that Reid has orchestrated in his tenure with this franchise? There are a number of individuals responsible for all this, but isn’t Reid the most responsible as the head coach?

Reid took the reigns of the Kansas City Chiefs at arguably the most tumultuous time in the franchise’s history. Since 1978, when the NFL switched to a 16-game regular season, the Chiefs had only gone 2-14 twice. Both those seasons came in the five years preceding Reid and that stretch included another dreadful season in which the team went 4-12. In fact, the team only broke .500 once in that span and was unceremoniously and easily bounced from the playoffs by the Baltimore Ravens.

The organization was in absolute shambles. After Todd Haley was fired in 2012, he claimed front office personnel had bugged his office in order to spy on him. His replacement, Romeo Crennel, while holding himself in a far more esteemed manner during his tenure, was almost a worse fit for the job. During his one season with the team, the Chiefs didn’t hold a lead in eight straight games and only barely eked out the two games they won. On top of the on field troubles, the Chiefs organization experienced one of the more sad and devastating off-the-field issues in the history of the league.

The truth is, this franchise was a punchline to a cruel joke. There was rarely, if ever, anything to cheer about and from all appearances it was starting to get worse. Chiefs games were on the verge of being blacked out in Kansas City, or so the rumor went. Much credit for what happened next must go to the team’s owner in Clark Hunt.

After firing Crennel, Hunt shot for the stars. He set his sights on one of the biggest names in coaching over the preceding decade-and-a-half, who for better or worse had ran out of time in Philadelphia. If Hunt hadn’t been as convincing as he must have been, there’s a chance Reid interviews and is offered a job with the Arizona Cardinals or even the San Diego Chargers. How different history might have been.

Luckily for Chiefs Kingdom, that didn’t happen. Hunt convinced Reid to come to Kansas City and the rest is history. In his first season with the team, Reid orchestrated the greatest turnaround in NFL history with the Chiefs going 9-0 for the first time since 2003 and making the playoffs for the first time since 2010.

Over the next six seasons, Reid would miss the playoffs only once, making the Chiefs one of the most relevant teams in the country’s most popular sport. The last few years in particular, the Chiefs would be at the top in terms of primetime games on their schedule. REid would be at the helm when the Chiefs drafted Mahomes, taking a great football program and pipeline and transforming it into an elite and next to unstoppable force.

This season culminated in a number of things both impressive and historical. The Chiefs swept the AFC West for the second time under Reid, resulting in the team’s fourth straight division championship. Before last season, the Chiefs had never won three straight division titles. Unfortunately for the AFC West, it’s more than likely this team will be the favorite for years to come.

The Chiefs won 11 or more games for the fifth time under Reid leading to a fifth straight playoff berth and luck would have them host the AFC Championship for the second straight season. It’s incredible, when you consider the franchise had never before hosted this game in the history of the league.

All this good fortune would result in the joyous end to one of the most tortuous droughts in all of sports. After 50 years, the Kansas City Chiefs will finally be stepping on the hallowed gridiron of Super Bowl LIV. In less than two weeks, the 2019 Chiefs will be competing for the sport’s ultimate prize.

The truth is, none of this could have been done without Andy Reid. Everywhere he goes, he builds a sustainable model of success. Owners love him, coaches want to learn under him, and players want to play for him. The reason I write all this is because there are still those here and there who voice the opinion that the Chiefs could do better. During the season, when the team began to fall on hard times, I heard the whispers on Twitter. When it came to the first quarter of the Texans game, those whispers turned to shouting.

Even with the remarkable comeback, there were still those who made it clear if Reid and the Chiefs were to lose to the Titans, it was reasonable to consider moving on. It’s to these people that I sincerely ask: do you remember what it was like before Reid became the head coach? Or did you become fans after the fact? I’ll be honest, only the second scenario makes any sense to me. If you weren’t around to see, feel and hear how bad it was it’s understandable to think it could easily be better.

To those in the first category, who might believe Reid has reached his ceiling and some young up-and-comer might be the answer, I’ll give you an analogy. Tom Osborne is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history. He took over the Nebraska Cornhusker football program in 1973 in its prime, coming off two national titles under Bob Devaney in 1970 and 1971. Expectations were enormously high for Osborne, yet It took him 21 seasons to win his first national title.

Once he won that title he proceeded to lead the Husker football program on one of the most dominant four year runs in the history of sports. Before that happened, similarly to Reid, the national narrative was that he couldn’t win the big game. Many had incorrectly believed the Husker football program could do better. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

Osborne was always a great coach, it just took him a long time to ascend to the mountaintop of college football. Some believe, given that Reid is in his 21st season as a coach and he hasn’t won the sports ultimate prize, that he never can. My simple point is, that’s not the case.

The truth is, the Chiefs franchise would be utterly foolish to ever move on from Andy Reid. There’s an argument to be made, even without a win in Super Bowl LIV, that he is the greatest winner in franchise history. You don’t jettison a winner for a shot in the dark, ever. Reid should get to leave when he decides to leave, and we as fans should be eternally thankful that Clark Hunt convinced him to pick the Chiefs in 2013. It has been quite the ride.