New Orleans (AFP) – If the Kansas City Chiefs’ Andy Reid can engineer another Super Bowl victory for his team on Sunday, he will become only the third head coach in NFL history to clinch four Super Bowl rings. Just don’t expect him to brag about it. Reid has spent all week giving credit to his players and staff for bringing the Chiefs to the brink of an unprecedented ‘three-peat’ and deflecting any talk of dynasties and records.
Part jovial uncle, part supportive school teacher, Reid’s public persona is no act — except perhaps in well-known television commercials — but it does disguise somewhat his dedicated approach to his job. Reid joined the Chiefs in 2013, the same year that a rookie called Travis Kelce arrived on the team. The tight end, who along with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, is at the heart of the Kansas City offense, offered some insight this week into Reid’s approach. Kelce’s brother Jason, the former Eagles center, had played under Reid in Philadelphia and gave Travis a heads-up on what to expect from his first NFL coach.
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“The biggest thing is, my brother was like, ‘Take advantage of the opportunity. He’s an unbelievable coach, he’s a players’ coach, but at the same time he’s gonna hold you accountable.’ I think the first year to two years I was with Coach Reid, I was like, ‘Man this guy’s not messing around.’ There wasn’t too much of the personality that I see now,” he said.
The more ruthless Reid was perhaps reflective of the task he took on in turning around what had become one of the worst teams in the NFL. The Missouri team had finished bottom of the AFC West standings in 2012 with a dismal 2-14 record and had failed to make the playoffs in five of the previous six seasons. Reid set about changing the personnel and the culture at the Chiefs, and Kelce says the foundations were built on time-tested values and a strong work ethic.
“Coach Reid keeps you accountable in that aspect. He’s got the old school mentality. He’s an old school football coach where you’re going to put the work in, you’re going to bring your lunch pail to work every single day and grind it out. And that is how you find real answers,” he said.
Kelce says the relationship has naturally evolved into one which is much closer than in his early years with the coach. “Now he’s like a father figure to me, like one of my uncles growing up that I respect so much because of who he is. I owe everything to that man in my career, where it’s gone – where I was (in college) at Cincinnati and where I am now, I have nothing but respect for coach Reid and how he’s helped me get to where I am in my life,” he said.
Reid’s language gives some insight into his approach, with him frequently referring to players as “good kids” and speaking of his role as being ‘a teacher’ to the young men in his team. That role is one the 66-year-old intends to continue in. Bill Belichick, the former New England Patriots boss, has the most Super Bowl titles with six as a head coach, and Reid could join former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Knoll on four. His 273 regular-season wins are fourth all time and he is now 55 behind legendary former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula.
However, Reid says such records aren’t the reason why he wants to continue coaching. “That’s not part of it. I just 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. Can’t put in the hours that you do and not enjoy it. So I really, I love the game,” he said.
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