Why Super Bowl victory over Eagles was Andy Reid’s masterpiece and cements his legacy
Andy Reid #AndyReid
Nearly an hour after the Chiefs had survived the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in one of the most compelling games in Super Bowl history, Chiefs coach Andy Reid finally made his way into a raucous locker room.
And in his path and its wake as surely as in his masterpiece of scheming on the field Sunday night at State Farm Stadium, you could see in the vivid emotion the reason he’s ascended into one of the most accomplished and beloved coaches in NFL history.
Here was punter Tommy Townsend rushing Reid, hugging him hard and telling him, “You did it again, you did it again.” With cigar smoke wafting through the room and various adult beverages being popped or consumed all around him, Reid made his way toward his office area through a line of players waiting to embrace him.
Along the way, they echoed the same sentiment over and over:
Appreciate you, Coach.
As they all do in ways we’ll come back to.
And as we all should.
If this wasn’t a coronation, exactly, it was a profound affirmation of Reid’s place not just in the locker room or in Kansas City sports history but in the annals of the game itself.
In winning a second Super Bowl in four seasons with the fine twist of having it be at the expense of the franchise that let him go or shooed him away or however it really went down a decade ago, Reid became one of just 14 men with such a distinction — a fact that both surprised and humbled him as he deflected attention to the players who got him here.
“If I’m mentioned with them, you know, I’ll have to think about that one for a while,” he said.
But there’s no thinking to be done about the meaning of winning Super Bowl LVII on Sunday.
This one, tight end Travis Kelce said afterward, “solidifies your greatness. You didn’t get lucky once. It wasn’t just beginner’s luck or (whatever) you guys want to call it.”
And there was something particularly apt about Reid and the Chiefs earning that distinction against the Eagles with a second-half offensive clinic and what might be considered the chef’s kiss of a game-winning drive built on exquisite time management — which many an Eagles fan considered his greatest weakness during 14 seasons in Philly.
Downplay that aspect of this as he might, you can believe that this meant all the more for Reid to do against the Eagles. More tangibly, that burned in his players.
“For him going up against his old team, man, we wanted to get this so bad for him,” said Kelce, who repeatedly has said that Reid has changed his life. “His legacy in Philly will live on forever, I know that city loves him, I know that organization loves him.
“But ever since he’s been here in Kansas City, I’ve seen it firsthand: He’s poured his heart and his mind and his soul into this organization, into this team …
“Call it what you want, that didn’t happen in Philly. It happened right here in Kansas City. And there’s a lot of pride in knowing he’s had success in two different organizations but this was the better one.”
Moreover, this victory puts Reid one Super Bowl win away from joining the ultra-elite group of four others who conducted three or more wins on this stage.
And Reid, 64, has long been thought to have years ahead of him thanks to the fountain of youth he has found in Mahomes, the quarterback he was born to coach (and vice versa). And with whom he shares an uncanny sense of connection and invention.
Which made it curious when Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported earlier Sunday that Reid had told him he had a decision to make regarding retirement after the game.
Without criticizing Glazer, Reid seemed to debunk the notion afterward.
“Listen, I look in the mirror and I’m old,” he said. “My heart, though, is young. I still enjoy doing what I’m doing. I got asked (about retirement) 50 times here. Finally, I just go, ‘Whatever, man, whatever.’ ”
Asked explicitly if he would return to coach the Chiefs next season, Reid smiled and said, “If they’ll have me, I’ll stick around.”
As the words came out of his mouth, Mahomes spoke for many as he stood stage-side yelling, “Yes, yes.”
Small wonder coming from Mahomes, who would have succeeded anywhere but in many ways is harnessed and actualized by his connection and devotion to Reid.
“You wanted to win those Super Bowls for him …” Mahomes said, smiling and adding, “And we’re not done. We’re going to have him around here for a little longer, at least.”
This was all the more sweet because it looked bleak at halftime. The Chiefs trailed 24-14, unable to get the Eagles off the field. And they were dealing with an already off-kilter Mahomes limping off the field after aggravating the high-ankle sprain he suffered against Jacksonville in the AFC Divisional Round game.
But Mahomes, and by extension Reid, the ultimate play-designer, was virtually flawless in the second half.
The Chiefs scored every time they got the ball, and the X’s and O’s of it never shined brighter than on the short touchdown passes (5 and 4 yards) Mahomes threw to Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore.
It’s hard enough to get wide open in the expanse of the field. But it’s a sheer tribute to play design to be able to do it in the red zone … not to mention in the crucible of the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.
That creative genius is vital to Reid’s legacy.
But it would be the sound of one hand clapping if not for his understated genius with people — and players in particular.
It might be hard to grasp that through the public face of Reid, which so often is one of caution and restraint that obscures the warmth, compassion and humor that are such a part of his persona behind the scenes.
But take a listen to some of his players and assistants, and you’ll get a fresh understanding of why his way resonates as it does.
Take Toney, whose stunning 65-yard punt return set up the 4-yard TD pass to Moore.
Anyone can see that Toney, the 2021 first-round draft pick of the New York Giants, is an electrifying talent. And it remains one of the mysteries of the universe that the Chiefs were able to acquire him from the Giants in October for two draft picks.
But maybe he answered some of that when I asked him about how he sees Reid.
“He gave me opportunity,” he said. “I mean, most coaches, anything (goes) wrong, they hissy-fit, cry, complain or whatever, you know? Him, you mess up anything, he’ll come over and crack a joke with you. You know what I’m saying?
“He’s coming back to you if you mess up anything. He’s just a coach that you want to play for. You want to go out there and do all you can for him.”
Across the room stood offensive lineman Nick Allegretti, and he instantly thought of this when I asked him how Reid connects so strongly with his players and commands such allegiance.
“He’s a man of his word, and that’s not as common as it should probably be in this day and age,” he said. “He says something, he believes it and his staff believes it and it makes us believe it … And here it is.”
Over here was Porter Ellett, the offensive quality control coach who formerly was Reid’s personal assistant — a job general manager Brett Veach once held for Reid in Philadelphia.
Ellett considered Reid one of the hardest-working and nicest people in the NFL, for starters.
“So I think it’s just testament to ‘the good guy can win,’” he said. “Which I think we all need to hear.”
At another depth, Ellett alluded to the fact he had his right arm amputated in high school.
“He saw me and obviously my weaknesses, and he chose to ignore them and see my strengths,” he said. “And he does that same thing with all the players. He knows the weaknesses but he works hard to find the strengths. And you see it on every play.
“Every play we design, he’s working to find guy’s strengths.”
Then there was defensive end Frank Clark, who amplified the point he made a couple weeks ago after kissing Reid and telling the father figure in his life he loved him on the field.
“The thing about Andy Reid that I love the most is his will, his grit, his understanding of his players. …” said Clark, noting that Reid’s ability to empathize with them separates him. “He understands the kid from South Central. He understands the kid from the hood in Cleveland. He gets it.”
You could stop at every locker or speak to everyone in the front office and come away with similar stories through different lenses about Reid — who became a gift to Kansas City when the Chiefs and Reid each were wounded and foundering a decade ago.
With each at a crossroads, you could say the “stars aligned,” as Hunt once put it.
His words proved prophetic and the process now keeps replenishing itself with the organizational alignment among Hunt, Reid and Veach … and only gathering momentum given that this was supposed to be a year of transition.
In further contrast to Reid’s time in Philadelphia, where he also was general manager for many years and presided over personnel even thereafter, he has let go more and more of that aspect of the operation in Kansas City.
That not only arguably has allowed Reid to coach better, but it also may extend his career.
“He’ll touch in every now and then, but I think (trusting Veach and his staff) has really kept him youthful …” Veach said last week. “I certainly think, hopefully, because of that he’ll coach another 10 years having that stress removed.”
Appreciate you, Coach, however much longer it goes.
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