Getty New England Patriots HC Bill Belichick (left) and Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid (right) embrace on January 16, 2016.
After New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick won his sixth Super Bowl ring in 2018 — his ninth championship appearance — few doubted he was the greatest coach of all time, surpassing men like Vince Lombardi and Don Shula among others.
Now, NFL analyst and television personality Colin Cowherd believes that all could change in the next five years or so.
In a recent viral clip from his Fox Sports talk show, “The Herd,” on January 19, Cowherd explained why he believes Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid can surpass Belichick by the time the two call it quits.
Andy Reid in last 3 years: 38-11
Bill Belichick in last 3 years: 29-20
“Don’t be surprised if you look at Andy’s last 10 years and Belichick’s and there aren’t arguments to be made on who we’re calling the greatest coach of all time.” — @ColinCowherd
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The Argument From Cowherd
Cowherd’s entire point was based around one simple concept: “The world changes.”
Transferring that theory over to football, the league changes, and coaches like Belichick are a thing of the past according to the TV host. Here is the explanation in his own words:
I was thinking about Andy Reid this morning, and Andy Reid grew up in an NFL where the mantra was — defense wins championships. Offense was sort of an eye-roll, finesse, pretty. You gotta play defense to win the big games! You ask Jimmy Johnson, the Vince Lombardis, right? Steel Curtain is what we grew up with. Nasty [Oakland] Raiders [is] what we grew up with. The [Baltimore] Ravens and Ray Lewis. Andy Reid — the rules never benefited him. And during that time, Bill Belichick, a defensive genius, rose to prominence — Tom Brady certainly helped. But then about five years ago, the NFL pivoted. All the rules now benefit offense and in the last three years, Andy Reid is 38-11, 6-1 in the playoffs, two Super Bowls and favored to be in a third. And Bill Belichick in the last three years is 29-20, 0-2 in the playoffs, and just had a quarterback humiliate him with seven straight touchdown drives.
Cowherd went on to tout Kansas City’s drafting while doubting Belichick’s decision-making in that regard. He also noted that most of the playoff teams remaining are stacked on offense.
He then went into a lengthy metaphor, comparing a brand like Nordstrom to Belichick and a tech giant like Jeff Bezos to Reid. The overarching point? Offensive coaches are taking over the NFL and the Chiefs coach is the best of the bunch.
The TV personality concluded: “Don’t be surprised if Andy stays till 69, you look at his last 10 years and you look at Belichick’s, and there aren’t arguments to be made [on] who we’re calling the greatest coach of all time. It’s not [because] Belichick got dumb, the world changes. The Nordstroms never got dumb, still smart today — the world changes.”
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Breaking Done Belichick vs. Reid
Belichick will be 70 years old in April. In 27 seasons as a head coach, his regular-season record is now 290-143-0 (.670) between the Cleveland Browns and Patriots. His postseason record is a ridiculous 31-12 (.721) and his Super Bowl record is 6-3.
In the AFC East, Belichick has accomplished an astonishing average end-of-season divisional rank of 1.4 (1.7 average as an HC). He holds a 40.15% success rate on challenges.
The current GOAT has also been awarded the AP Coach of the Year three times (2003, 2007, 2010).
Now, let’s take a look at Reid’s resume. Big Red will be 64 in March with 23 years as a head coach split more evenly between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chiefs franchises.
His regular-season record is 233-135-1 (.633) and his postseason record is much worse at 17-15 (.531). Reid is also 1-2 in Super Bowls with a 49.2% success rate on challenges and an average end-of-season divisional rank of 1.9 — but his dominant 1.3 average with Kansas City actually trumps Belichick’s in New England.
Big Red has only won the AP Coach of the Year once in 2002. He’s also the only head coach to ever win 100 games with two different NFL franchises.
Here is the tally so far:
| Super Bowls | Belichick |
| Regular-Season Record | Belichick |
| Postseason Record | Belichick |
| Variety of Quarterbacks Coached | Reid |
| Average End-of-Season Divisional Rank | WASH |
| Challenge Success Rate | Reid |
| AP Coach of the Year Awards | Belichick |
| 100 Wins With Two Franchises | Reid |
Reid still has a ways to go in this debate but Cowherd never said the Chiefs HC was the better coach right now, he claimed he’ll become the greatest one when all is said and done. That remains to be seen, but it’s also more plausible of a feat in 2022 than it felt after 2018.
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NFL Analyst Explains Why Andy Reid May Surpass Bill Belichick as GOAT