Andy Reid Proved He Has No Ego When He Let a Janitor Design a Play That Resulted in a Touchdown
Andy Reid is one of the best coaches in the NFL. He’s guided the Kansas City Chiefs to two Super Bowl championships in the last four years. Reid is one of the most innovative coaches in the league and is set to enter his 25th season as an NFL head coach and 11th with the Chiefs.
Despite all the success, Reid has no ego. He’ll listen to anyone, and that includes the janitor who once drew up a play that resulted in a touchdown.
Is Andy Reid the best coach in the NFL today?
Reid enters his 11th season as head coach of the Chiefs after spending 14 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. Prior to his time with the Eagles, Reid was an offensive line/tight ends coach and quarterbacks coach with the Green Bay Packers, mentoring Hall of Famer Brett Favre.
Reid has had the Chiefs in the Super Bowl three of the last four years. Although he doesn’t have six Super Bowl rings as Bill Belichick does, it might be time we call Reid the best coach in the game today.
While Reid does have Patrick Mahomes running the show, Reid has proven he can win with other quarterbacks. Reid has never had a losing season in his 10 years in Kansas City. Mahomes, the best quarterback in the game today, has only been the starter for half of those seasons.
Reid has also shown he can win with multiple teams. He took the Eagles to the Super Bowl in the 2004 season after guiding them to a 13-3 record.
Belichick, on the other hand, hasn’t had much success without Tom Brady as his quarterback. Without Brady taking snaps from center, Belichick is 79-87. That includes a 36-44 mark in his five years as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, where he had one winning season.
In the last three years without Brady, the Patriots failed to make the playoffs.
There’s no ego with Reid
Andy Reid will do whatever it takes to win. He doesn’t have to be the star of the show. He doesn’t have to flaunt his authority. In fact, he’ll listen to any suggestions that may help the team, even if those suggestions come from a janitor.
“I took one from a janitor one time at Green Bay,” Reid said to host Chris Long on the Green Light podcast. “He goes, ‘I got this play for you.’ And he kept telling me this over and over. Finally, I said, ‘OK, here’s a card. Draw up the play.’
“And he drew up the play, and I go, ‘Dang, that’s pretty good.’ We called the play just before halftime and it scored.”
That story alone should vault Reid past Belichick in the all-time coaching list discussion.
