Andy Reid

Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 2001 to 2012, Reid was also the Eagles' executive vice president of football operations. He is the longest tenured coach in the league, and the only NFL coach to win 100 games with two different franchises and also the only coach to appear in four consecutive conference championships with two different franchises. Reid is considered one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time.

Reid began his professional coaching career with the Green Bay Packers, serving as an offensive assistant from 1992 to 1998 and was a member of the team that won Super Bowl XXXI. He held his first head coaching position with the Eagles in 1999, who became perennial postseason contenders under his leadership. Reid led the Eagles to nine playoff runs, six division titles, five NFC Championship Games (including four consecutive from 2001 to 2004), and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX. He was fired following the 2012 season, as the Eagles had missed the postseason for a second straight year.

Hired as the head coach of the Chiefs in 2013, Reid helped revitalize the struggling franchise into the league's best. In 13 seasons with Kansas City, Reid has led the Chiefs to 11 postseason appearances, nine consecutive division titles, seven consecutive AFC Championship Games, five Super Bowl appearances (including three consecutive), and three Super Bowl titles. This included their first playoff victory since 1993 in the 2015 season, their first consecutive division titles in franchise history, and their first Super Bowl title in 50 years in Super Bowl LIV.

Early life

Reid was born in Los Angeles on March 19, 1958. He attended John Marshall High School and worked as a vendor at Dodger Stadium as a teenager. Reid first grew his mustache while sailing as a cadet aboard the TS Golden Bear during his time at the California Maritime Academy. Reid played youth sports in East Hollywood, at Lemon Grove Recreation Center, where Pete Arbogast, the radio announcer for the USC football team and play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Bengals, was one of his coaches.

In 1971, at age 13, Reid was on Monday Night Football participating in the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition; he was already so large that he wore the jersey of Les Josephson, who was 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 207 pounds (94 kg).

Playing career

In high school, Reid played football for coach Hiroshi Tanaka while at Marshall and was named a scholar athlete, MVP, all-league, all-city and All-American. Reid was also named all-league in baseball as a pitcher.

Reid played offensive tackle at Glendale Community College in Glendale, California, and planned to transfer to Stanford but injured his knee. While at Glendale, Reid was named all-conference and most inspirational player. BYU head coach LaVell Edwards wanted Reid's teammate and best friend Randy Tidwell, and also recruited Reid to the team to help persuade Tidwell to come to BYU. At BYU, Reid was a teammate of Jim McMahon and Tom Holmoe.

Teammates recalled that Reid did not play often but was very analytical, closely studying Edwards and offensive coordinator Doug Scovil. BYU won the 1980 Holiday Bowl in his senior year.

Coaching career

Early jobs

Reid had thought of becoming a writer, but continued to question Edwards about football strategy, causing Edwards to suggest coaching as a career. After graduating from BYU in 1981, Reid spent one year as a graduate assistant on the school's football coaching staff; colleagues included Scovil, Norm Chow, and Mike Holmgren. He spent the next nine years as an offensive line coach with four colleges.

During his college coaching career, Reid was on the staff of several teams, including San Francisco State, Northern Arizona University, the University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Missouri. In 1986, as coach at Northern Arizona, he coached Frank Pollack, who went on to play for six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.

Green Bay Packers (1992–1998)

Reid was hired by Holmgren at the Green Bay Packers in 1992, the same year quarterback Brett Favre became a member of that team, placing Reid in the Bill Walsh coaching tree. In 1995, he became the assistant offensive line and tight ends coach, where he helped lead the 1996 team to a Super Bowl XXXI win over the New England Patriots. Reid was named the Packers' quarterbacks coach in 1997, replacing Marty Mornhinweg, who left to be the offensive coordinator for his predecessor in Green Bay, Steve Mariucci. Mariucci wanted Reid to be his offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, but Holmgren prevented the move.

Philadelphia Eagles (1999–2012)

Consistent with his reputation for a focus on football details, Reid arrived at his interview with the Eagles with a five-inch thick book he developed on how he would go about running the team if given the job. The Eagles hired Reid on January 11, 1999; he was the second-youngest head coach in the league after Jon Gruden and the first then to be hired as a head coach without first having served as an offensive or defensive coordinator. Some in the Philadelphia news media criticized the hiring, citing the availability of other candidates who had already served previously as successful head coaches.

Donovan McNabb era (1999–2009)

As he set about leading the Eagles, one of Reid's first major decisions was drafting dual-threat quarterback Donovan McNabb in the first round with the second overall pick, although Reid started former Packers' backup Doug Pederson in the first nine games of the 1999 season. In Reid's first season in Philadelphia, the Eagles improved their record by two games over 1998, finishing 5–11. Among the five wins was the team's first road victory in 19 games, 20–16 over the Chicago Bears on October 17.

In 2000, the Eagles posted an 11–5 regular-season record and won their first playoff game since the 1995 season, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Philadelphia on New Year's Eve.

In 2001, Reid was named executive vice president of football operations of the Eagles, effectively making him the team's general manager. Although the Eagles had general managers after 2005 (Tom Heckert from 2005 to 2010 and Howie Roseman from 2010 until Reid's departure), Reid had the final say on football matters.

In 2001, Reid's Eagles won the first of four consecutive NFC East titles, the longest such streak in franchise history, and advanced to the conference championship game in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, losing this game on the first three occasions.

The 2003 team qualified for postseason play after opening the season with two losses, both at home, and was also the first NFL team ever to reach the conference title round of the playoffs after having been shut out at home on opening day. The 2004 team was the second NFC East squad to defeat all of its division rivals (New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Redskins) twice during the same regular season (the Dallas Cowboys did it in 1998). The 2004 Eagles clinched the NFC #1-seed with a 13–1 record and proceeded to rest their starters for the final two games. After three straight NFC Championship losses, the team beat the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 27–10 and made it to Super Bowl XXXIX but fell to the New England Patriots 24–21.

The 2005 season was difficult for Reid as he sought to deal with wide receiver Terrell Owens' flamboyant persona, which forced Reid to permanently deactivate him midway through the 2005 season. A couple of weeks later quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered a season-ending injury, leaving the Eagles without the services of two of their star players. The Eagles lost eight of their last ten games and finished 6–10. With their third win of the season – a 23–20 win over the Oakland Raiders – Reid passed Greasy Neale to become the winningest coach in franchise history.

The Eagles had a rollercoaster campaign under Reid in 2006. The season appeared to be lost by October with another season-ending injury to McNabb, turning a 4–1 start into a mid-season breakdown which left the team 5–5. After a 45–21 defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, the Eagles were on the verge of elimination from the playoffs. Reid coached backup quarterback, Jeff Garcia, and the 5–6 Eagles, to victories over a slew of NFC rivals including the Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins, New York Giants, and Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles, at 10–6, won the NFC East division title, as well as an NFC wild card game against the New York Giants. Their season ended at the hands of an opportune New Orleans Saints team in the NFC Divisional Round.

In the 2007 season, Reid led the Eagles to an 8–8 season. The Eagles failed to make the postseason.