Andy Reid

Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, a role he has held since 2013. Before that, he coached the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012, also serving as their executive vice president of football operations from 2001 to 2012. Reid holds the longest continuous tenure of any current NFL head coach. He is the only coach in league history to win 100 games with two different franchises and the only one to appear in four straight conference championship games with two different teams. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest NFL coaches ever.

Reid’s professional coaching career began with the Green Bay Packers, where he worked as an offensive assistant from 1992 to 1998 and was part of the team that won Super Bowl XXXI. He took his first head coaching job with the Eagles in 1999, turning them into regular playoff contenders. Under his leadership, Philadelphia made nine playoff appearances, won six division titles, reached five NFC Championship Games (including four in a row from 2001 to 2004), and played in Super Bowl XXXIX. He was let go after the 2012 season, following two straight years without a postseason berth.

When Reid took over the Chiefs in 2013, he revived a struggling franchise and turned it into the league’s best. Over 13 seasons in Kansas City, he has led the team to 11 playoff appearances, nine consecutive division titles, seven straight AFC Championship Games, five Super Bowl trips (including three in a row), and three Super Bowl victories. These milestones include the Chiefs’ first playoff win since 1993 in the 2015 season, their first back-to-back division titles in franchise history, and their first Super Bowl championship in 50 years, which came in Super Bowl LIV.

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. He first grew his mustache while sailing as a cadet aboard the TS Golden Bear during his time at the California Maritime Academy. As a youth, he played sports at the Lemon Grove Recreation Center in East Hollywood, where one of his coaches was Pete Arbogast, the radio announcer for USC football and the Cincinnati Bengals. In 1971, at age 13, Reid appeared on Monday Night Football in the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition; he was already so large that he wore the jersey of Les Josephson, who was 6 feet tall and weighed 207 pounds.

In high school, Reid played football for coach Hiroshi Tanaka at Marshall and was named a scholar athlete, MVP, all-league, all-city, and All-American. He was also all-league in baseball as a pitcher. He played offensive tackle at Glendale Community College in California, where he was named all-conference and most inspirational player, and planned to transfer to Stanford before a knee injury derailed that plan. BYU head coach LaVell Edwards wanted Reid’s teammate and best friend Randy Tidwell, and recruited Reid to help persuade Tidwell to join the Cougars. At BYU, Reid was a teammate of Jim McMahon and Tom Holmoe. Teammates recalled that Reid did not play much but was highly analytical, closely studying Edwards and offensive coordinator Doug Scovil. BYU won the 1980 Holiday Bowl in his senior year.

Reid initially considered becoming a writer, but after constantly questioning Edwards about football strategy, Edwards suggested he try coaching. After graduating from BYU in 1981, Reid spent a year as a graduate assistant on the school’s coaching staff, working alongside Scovil, Norm Chow, and Mike Holmgren. He then spent nine years as an offensive line coach at four colleges: San Francisco State, Northern Arizona University, the University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Missouri. In 1986, while at Northern Arizona, he coached Frank Pollack, who later played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers.

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

Consistent with his reputation for intense attention to detail, Reid arrived at his Eagles interview with a five-inch-thick book outlining how he would run the team. He was hired on January 11, 1999, becoming the second-youngest head coach in the league after Jon Gruden and the first to be hired as a head coach without first serving as an offensive or defensive coordinator. Some Philadelphia media criticized the hire, pointing to other candidates who had already been successful head coaches.

One of Reid’s first major moves as Eagles head coach was drafting dual-threat quarterback Donovan McNabb with the second overall pick in the first round, though he started former Packers backup Doug Pederson in the first nine games of the 1999 season. In his first season, the Eagles improved their record by two games over 1998, finishing 5–11. Among those five wins was the team’s first victory of the season.