On Thursday, Arrowhead Pleasure’s Tom Childs shared The thirty third Staff’s rating of the all-time high 10 NFL coaches in our each day “Arrowheadlines” function. There, the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid was ranked tenth in an inventory that started with Invoice Belichick, Vince Lombardi and Invoice Walsh.
It’s simple to argue that any coach on that checklist could possibly be ranked otherwise. (I believe recency bias locations Belichick too excessive — and I’m obligated to disagree with any checklist that doesn’t have Paul Brown within the high 5. Your mileage could fluctuate, in fact).
However there appears to be little disagreement on the identification of the league’s finest energetic coach. Increasing on some info from a brand new quarterback rating that locations Patrick Mahomes in a category of his personal, I’ve simply argued that Reid is a genius. Simply over two weeks in the past, Professional Soccer Focus named Reid because the league’s high present coach.
Now CBS Sports activities author Cody Benjamin has weighed in along with his rating for 2024. Guess what?
1. Andy Reid (Chiefs)
Season: twelfth with Chiefs, twenty fifth as head coachCareer document: 258-144-1Playoffs: 26-16 (3-2 in Tremendous Bowls)
No query right here. As soon as the template for great-but-not-elite coaches overseeing the Eagles’ close-but-no-cigar runs of the 2000s, Reid has fully entrenched himself as a future Corridor of Famer in Kansas Metropolis, melding the celebrity traits of quarterback Patrick Mahomes with fixed offensive wrinkles and a warranted belief of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. He and the Chiefs are the modern model of Belichick and the Patriots, besides with extra fireworks, and their unflinching means to adapt from high-octane assault to disciplined crunch-time technique units them nicely above the remaining. Whether or not his guys must win in a shootout or by enjoying ugly, they’ll come by means of when it counts.
Takeaway
I can’t disagree with one factor Benjamin stated about Reid. (Simply an hour after posting this, he revealed a rating of NFL coaches by their “big-game” means. Reid topped that checklist, too).
I do know that followers of a group with an excellent head coach are sometimes upset when the Related Press doesn’t honor them with its annual “Coach of the 12 months” award. Since it’s typically given to a coach who has shortly turned a shedding group right into a winner, it’s affordable to counsel that its title ought to mirror that.
Right here’s the issue: the coach isn’t at all times a newcomer who turned a nasty group round. Don Shula gained it 4 occasions. Belichick gained it 3 times. So did Chuck Knox. Kevin Stefanski has now gained it twice — the primary time for turning the Cleveland Browns right into a winner in 2020… after which for turning them right into a winner once more in 2023.
Reid gained it in 2002, after bringing the Philadelphia Eagles to back-to-back convention championships two seasons after he inherited the 3-13 squad.
Reid ought to have gained it once more in 2013, when he took the Chiefs from 2012’s last-place end to the playoffs — and never for nothing, additionally erased the stench of the 4-12 document he posted throughout his last season in Philadelphia. I’d argue he deserved it greater than Ron Rivera, who had spent three seasons bringing the Carolina Panthers from 2-14 to 12-4. (Rivera gained it once more in 2015).
I’d additionally argue that Reid deserved it in 2023, when the Chiefs went from 9-6 to back-to-back Tremendous Bowl championships. Right here’s the issue: identical to with the AP MVP award, voting is performed instantly after the common season concludes; the postseason isn’t thought of. So far as the voters knew, Reid had merely salvaged a playoff dwelling recreation from a forgettable season. Most Kansas Metropolis followers weren’t even predicting the Chiefs would repeat!
So I say this proper now: if Kansas Metropolis wins the AFC West in 2024 — giving them a fighter’s probability for a first-ever Tremendous Bowl three-peat — Reid deserves his second “Coach of the 12 months” award. I say this with out understanding what else may occur this season. If some newcomer deserves it, they’ll wait a season or two. They’ll get one other probability.
It’s previous time for Reid to win it once more.
