Grant’s Slants: Evaluating Andy Reid’s greatness and Bills-Chiefs preview
By Grant Tuttle
After defeating the Eagles, Andy Reid became the first coach to get 100 wins with two teams. That is not the only remarkable accomplishment of his career.
Bill Parcells, Don Shula, Mike Ditka, Bill Belichick, and… Andy Reid? Although Kansas City has struggled out of the gates this season, Reid hit another historic milestone in his unbelievable career. He has now won 100 games with two different franchises. He is the first to ever achieve this, and may be the only one ever.
After a great run with the Philadelphia Eagles that spanned 14 seasons, he was ultimately let go for the opportunity to get a change of scenery in Philadelphia. Quickly thereafter, the Chiefs interviewed him and gave him a job in Kansas City. With very little time to spare, Reid quickly took the reins of the Kansas City franchise. The Chiefs went from hopeless to hopeful and then to Super Bowl Champion. For the turnaround, Reid deserves a lot of the credit.
Let’s take a look at what makes Reid such an incredible coach.
Before this week’s Chiefs-Bills preview, let’s evaluate Andy Reid’s all-time greatness.
Reid is in year 23 of his head coaching career. During his NFL career, Reid has experienced big wins, disappointing losses, and off-field tragedy. With two Super Bowl appearances, Reid has found Super Bowl glory only once. Although he has only one Super Bowl victory, Reid is the 6th winningest NFL coach of all-time.
Reid has been known to be an offensive mastermind and quarterback guru for his entire career. His first job in the NFL was with the Green Bay Packers and happened to be Brett Favre’s first year with the team. After some time developing there, Reid became the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
It was in Philadelphia where Reid learned the ropes quickly and led his team from 5-11 his first year to 11-5 the next season. Reid went on to only have two other losing seasons. With Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens on his high-powered offense, the Eagles went to the 2004 Super Bowl in which they ultimately lost to the Patriots. Reid’s success stretched beyond a couple of top-tier players and talented rosters.
Reid was able to revitalize Michael Vick’s career, make Kevin Kolb a tradable asset, and create victories for teams that were athletically inferior to their opponent. While Reid has faced criticism over his ability to manage the clock and call plays. No one can truly question his ability to scheme, put players in a position to succeed, and develop young players.
Reid’s overall body of work will have a lasting impact on the game of football. Not only has Reid helped put countless players in a position to succeed, he has also changed the way that offensive scheming has been drawn up. For years now, he has been able to come up with new wrinkles to add to the playbook that slowly but surely find their way into other teams’ playbooks.
Reid has also developed a very talented coaching tree that continues to impact the NFL. Some of these coaches include John Harbaugh, Ron Rivera, and Sean McDermott.
These facts alone make it impossible for someone to not mention Andy Reid when discussing the best coaches ever. While there is no such thing as a flawless coach, I personally cannot think of a coach that I would rather see on my team’s sideline. With intellect, precision, and grit Reid has established himself as one of the best ever.