In the 103-year history of the NFL, there have been 518 head coaches. A very small group of them can claim to have played at least four championship games, and Andy Reid will be one of them after Super Bowl LVII.
The Chiefs head coach is only the 14th to coach in a fourth finals after reaching his first Super Bowl with the Eagles at the end of the 2004 season. He’s since done so again with the Chiefs in 2019 and 2020, in more of this current season.
This 14-strong group includes the men who trained before the Super Bowl era, which began in 1966.
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“Incredible Leadership”
How can such successes be explained? For Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who has developed under Reid’s reign from 2014 to 2021, it is above all his leadership that must be appreciated if his offensive strategies have allowed him to stand out.
“He always has the right way of bringing the team together, no matter the differences. I saw the time in Kansas City where we had an extremely dominant defense but an offense that scored fewer points. Then I also experienced the opposite.”
“He made sure no one ever pointed a finger at him. In a sport so fragmented, it takes incredible leadership,” he said in a recent interview with Le Journal.
Diligent worker
If the Chiefs beat the Eagles tomorrow, Reid will become the 14th head coach to win the Super Bowl more than once.
In his case, the awards don’t count anymore. Winning is routine, to the point where he became only the fourth coach in history this season to have at least 100 wins over .500. He finds himself on this very short list in the company of none other than Bill Belichick, Don Shula, and George Halas.
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Without making much noise, Reid climbed to fifth in the big fraternity of coaches with 247 career wins. In the playoffs, the 64-year-old is second with 21 wins, 10 fewer than leader Belichick.
“He works harder than anyone. How can you not have respect for a coach who is already there no matter what time you arrive in the morning and who is still there no matter what time you leave? commented Duvernay-Tardif about his ex-boss.
A rescuer in Kansas City
Worst of all, Andy Reid arrived in Kansas City in 2013 in distress. The team was just recovering from a two-win, 14-loss season and had lost nine games by at least 15 points.
Prior to that, Reid had won 130 more games in Philadelphia than anyone before him in Eagles history. He only had three losing campaigns from 1999 to 2012.
After nine playoff appearances, including five National Conference Finals, the Philadelphia team, fans and media were fed up with him for his apparent inability to win the big game.
Since he’s been in Kansas City, he’s led the Chiefs to seven straight division championships and the team has reached the last five American Championship playoffs.
His place in the Football Hall of Fame already seems guaranteed; a second Super Bowl victory would bury his candidacy in reinforced concrete – without ever having taken on the style of a torturer.
“Everyone respects Coach Reid and Coach Reid respects everyone,” said Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
TEACHERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN FOUR OR MORE ULTIMATE MATCHES
Archive photos, AFP and Portal
* Paul Brown (7 championships), George Halas (6 championships), Curly Lambeau (6 championships), Vince Lombardi (3 championships and 2 Super Bowls), and Guy Chamberlin (4 championships) are the most decorated pre-Super Bowls .
THE COACHES THAT BRING TWO TEAMS TO THE SUPER BOWL
THE MOST VICTORIOUS IN HISTORY
Don Schula
1963-1995
Number of wins: 328
Number of games: 490
George Hallas
1920-1967
Number of wins: 318
Number of games: Four hundred seven and ninety
Bill Belichick
1991-
Number of wins: 298
Number of games: 450
Tom Landry
1960-1988
Number of wins: 250
Number of games: 418
Andy Reid
1999-
Number of wins: 247
Number of games: 386
Source: Pro Football Reference