Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid’s 258 career victories are fourth most in NFL history. Next February, if his Chiefs win another Super Bowl, Reid will become the first coach to claim three consecutive Lombardi trophies.
Reid’s success is road mapped in work, grace and style and has earned respect from around the world.
“I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in everything, all the major events here,” Reid recently told the “Y’s Guys” podcast. “The one that sits before us right now is a nice challenge and that’s to win potentially another Super Bowl, or at least prepare ourselves to be able to do that. So, that’s where our energy is going right now. That’s something that’s never been done in the NFL. It’s hard to win one, let alone two in a row, and let alone three and that’s why it has never happened. What a great challenge that is!”
Reid and the Chiefs begin their historic quest on Thursday, Sept. 5, against former Cougar linebacker Kyle Van Noy and the Baltimore Ravens.
During his “Y’s Guys” interview, Reid tackled topics ranging from former BYU stars Zach Wilson and Kingsley Suamataia to Taylor Swift and Harrison Butker. He also fielded inquiries from “Y’s Guys” viewers, former teammates and a few BYU A-listers. Here are a few.
Q: How important is the coach/GM relationship to your success and your job enjoyment? Who makes the final call on draft and roster cuts? (Danny Ainge, Jazz CEO former Boston GM)
Reid: “I think it’s huge. My general manager here now is Brett Veach. He jumps in there and really was instrumental in bringing Pat Mahomes here. How important is that? John Dorsey was the GM at the time, but Brett was the one that went out and watched Pat play and he came back and said, ‘Hey, this guy is the best guy I’ve ever seen,’ and he was right. I have a ton of trust in him, and he has trust in me. I don’t ever question his decisions. He makes the final personnel decisions. He gets us all involved, but when it’s all said and done, he makes the decision, and he has done a phenomenal job at that.”
Q: What have you learned about motivating highly skilled players who also have competing egos? (Sheri Dew, Deseret Book CEO)
Reid: “I noticed this when I was at Green Bay when I was with Brett Favre and Reggie White, who arguably are the two best at their position who played the game at this level, all they wanted was one more thing to be even greater than what they already were. So, as a coach, that is what you try to present. We try to do that as coaches here. We are going to bust our tail for you to give you one more thing to help you be greater than you already are, whether it’s by scheme or by coaching a fundamental. That’s how we go about it. The guys believe in that. They have bought in. That’s the culture. They help each other and that’s where you see it work. You see these young guys coming in like Kingsley (Suamataia) and here are the veteran players, the Creed (Humphrey) and Trey Smith’s, these guys are helping him become even better than what he is now and make his game better so he can make a living, yes, but also help us win championships.”
Q: (Andy) is fearless and confident. Those are two very different ideas. He will go for it on fourth down with the game on the line. He will go for a touchdown with time running out to win the Super Bowl. Where did that foot-on-the-gas mentality come from? (NFL All-Pro tight end Chad Lewis)
Reid: We came up in a pass offense (at BYU) and we trusted it. The NFL wasn’t (like) that when I got in. It’s evolved into that, but it took time. I’ve got confidence in that. I think it’s that foundation that we know that that can be successful. We know that it can be an aggressive attitude offense. Not only up front, but also with the wide receivers attacking the football, the quarterback making a quick decision, staying on time, making an accurate throw, these are all things that have allowed me to stay aggressive with the pass game scheme.”
Q: Do you remember selling hot dogs to raise money for football at San Francisco State? (BYU athletic director and former teammate Tom Holmoe)
Reid: “Yes. At San Francisco State (offensive line coach, 1983-85) we sold hot dogs every Tuesday and Thursday to make money to support the players during training camp and buy their food for them. That was a unique campus with a variety of different people there, which was enjoyable. Tom had an opportunity to witness that. When he was on the 49ers scout team, and when the team went on the road, he would come up and sit in the booth with me at San Francisco State. I always thought he would be a great coach and he ended up doing that, although he really wanted to be an athletic director, so he eventually got what he wanted and he’s great at that.”
Q: How many chicken nuggets did you have to eat in your (State Farm) commercial? (BYU national champion quarterback Robbie Bosco)
Reid: “There were a lot of nuggets! Thank goodness they were good ones. They give you a spit bucket which kind of sounds gross, and it is gross. I said I wasn’t going to use the spit bucket but after about the 100th nuggie, you are ready for that spit bucket.”
Q: Who was the better quarterback, Eric Krzmarzick, Gym Kimball, Mark Haugo or Steve Young? (NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, tongue-in-cheek)
Reid: “He kills me. He’s making me slam (those) other guys. Just the fact that we had all those guys was something. There was a point when the coaches were considering moving (Steve) to cornerback and I was in that meeting as a young guy who just got off his honeymoon. As seniors, there weren’t a lot of QBs we went and watched play on the JV team, but he was one of them. We would go over and watch him do his thing because he was so good. I said, ‘It would be a shame to move him to a new position.’ Not that (my opinion) mattered in that meeting at all.”
Q: How did the Taylor Swift fans impact the NFL and the Chiefs last season?
Reid: “How awesome was that? She brings a whole (new) group of young ladies, and older ladies to be interested in this sport. It’s a great sport. Girls flag football right now is going crazy, and I love that part. There are so many great lessons you can learn about life in this sport and it’s fun to play. Taylor is a sweetheart. She came in and made all the offensive linemen homemade pop tarts. She won over the group right there. It’s kind of neat to see her where she doesn’t have to be ‘it’. She can sit back. I think she’s enjoying that, sitting back and being able to escape from being Taylor Swift for a minute and just being a fan — and she’s all-in.”
Q: Recently, your kicker, Harrison Butker, was heavily criticized for a speech he gave during a recent commencement address. You stood by him as you try to do for all your players.
Reid: “I’m lucky to know these guys personally. I know Harrison Butker. I know what a fine person he is. He has a belief, as we all do, and we are all a little different — and that’s what makes this world go around. If you really reach down into the core of him, he’s a fine person, so whether you agree or disagree with him, there is a core there that is trying to make people around him better, including himself.”
Q: Did you ever consider trading for quarterback Zach Wilson in the offseason?
Reid: “I think he is a heck of a player, but we didn’t have the funds or the number of draft picks to get all that done. We needed every draft pick we had just to fill in the blanks. You try to make this salary cap thing work. There is a little bit of a challenge there, but I think he’s a heck of a player and I’m glad he gets a restart here (in Denver).”
Q: Are we going to see second-round draft pick Kingsley Suamataia (offensive lineman) on the field in September?
Reid: “If he keeps doing good, he will be. He’s a great kid. He’s working his tail off right now trying to get used to all of this. It’s like learning French in a couple of days. Practice feels like the MTC. It can be rough at times. He’s working through all of that. He’s taking positive steps every day. Once we get into training camp and it’s hot and it’s humid and it tests you mentally and physically, that’s when he’ll get his most growth.”
Q: What are the keys for the Cougars in their second year in the Big 12
Reid: “They did a nice job for being the first time in it. That’s a tough conference, but BYU is a tough group. I think Kalani does a nice job with all of that as do his coaches. That ends up being an important thing. It’s not only important there, but it’s also important they go out and recruit like they do. Good coaching, good players normally help you win games. They have good schemes. They will just be another year older in it and here we go. They know what to expect.”
Q: What would your pitch be to a college athlete to come to BYU?
Reid: I think it’s the greatest place on earth. Not only do you get a great education on the football field, but you get a great education off the field — academically and spiritually. It changed my life. I know it’s changed a lot of others’ lives. When you graduate from BYU, you come in automatically with a resume, whether you deserved it or not, you come in with something that says I’m an honest, hardworking human being that people can trust. Unless you obliterate that image, it helps you get in the door and maintain jobs and really in my case and in your cases here, put us at a nice level where you can support your family.”
Q: What leadership principles have you seen over your successful years of coaching to be the most effective for your players, especially in tough situations?
Reid: “In this job, the better the teacher you are the better coach you are going to be. The more honest you are, the more the players are going to appreciate you. I start there. I’m demanding but I’m not demeaning. I’m gonna try to be positive and honest with you as we go through that.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.