Getty Chiefs head coach Andy Reid
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he NFL currently has a complete mix of head coaches. There are the veteran coaches, there are the up and coming offensive gurus, and there are coaches who should not be running a football team. NFL.com’s Elliot Harrison recently put out a power ranking of NFL head coaches.
In the rankings, the top choice was obvious. Bill Belichick led the way, followed by Pete Carroll. Sean Payton was listed third and then Andy Reid. With the emergence of the new wave of NFL head coaches, is this ranking too high for the current Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach?
Reid is actually right where he should be. He even might be a little low. There is no doubt that Reid is a top five coach in the NFL. What sets Carroll and Payton apart are the Super Bowl victories. Reid just completed his 20th season as a head coach in the NFL. He has made just one Super Bowl appearance in 2004 with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Reid burst onto the scene in 1999 with the Eagles, and turned them into a powerhouse immediately. after going 5-11 in his first season, Reid led the Eagles to 10 or more wins in five straight seasons. He stayed with Philly until 2012. He was immediately hired by the Chiefs to become their new head coach. In six seasons in Kansas City, Reid has not had a losing season and has won 10 or more games five times. In 2018, he led the Chiefs to their first conference championship game since 1993.
As a head coach, Reid has a record of 195-124 in the regular season. In the postseason, he is 12-14. Even though Reid has coached more games in the postseason, Carroll and Payton have a better record. Payton is 8-6 in the playoffs while Carroll is 10-8. Carroll led the Seattle Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, winning one. Payton also has a Super Bowl win under his belt.
What Reid has done for the Kansas City offense cannot be ignored. He transformed the Chiefs into an offensive powerhouse. Even before the emergence of Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs were able to put up points at a high rate thanks to Reid’s system. He is a coach that likes to get their running back involved at a high rate. Reid’s starting running backs average over 20 touches per game since he became a head coach.
Let’s not forget that he took a huge risk in trading away Alex Smith. Trading up to draft Mahomes was clearly a sign of times changing, however, that does not mean it was an easy decision to make. Smith was a proven winner in the NFL and had some great days as quarterback of the Chiefs. To switch to Mahomes so abruptly is a move that could have backfired easily, but it turned into just another genius decision by Reid.
In 2019, Belichick is clearly the league’s best coach. The next three can be debated, but there is no credible top five list without Reid. With Mahomes now under center, he might be the quarterback who finally leads Reid to the championship that has eluded him for so long.