Background and career
Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 2001 to 2012, Reid was also the Eagles' executive vice president of football operations. He is the longest-tenured coach in the league, and the only NFL coach to win 100 games with two different franchises and also the only coach to appear in four consecutive conference championships with two different franchises. Reid is considered one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time. Reid began his professional coaching career with the Green Bay Packers, serving as an offensive assistant from 1992 to 1998 and was a member of the team that won Super Bowl XXXI. He held his first head coaching position with the Eagles in 1999, who became perennial postseason contenders under his leadership. Reid led the Eagles to nine playoff runs, six division titles, five NFC Championship Games (including four consecutive from 2001 to 2004), and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIX. He was fired following the 2012 season, as the Eagles had missed the postseason for a second straight year. Hired as the head coach of the Chiefs in 2013, Reid helped revitalize the struggling franchise into the league's best. In 13 seasons with Kansas City, Reid has led the Chiefs to 11 postseason appearances, nine consecutive division titles, seven consecutive AFC Championship Games, five Super Bowl appearances (including three consecutive), and three Super Bowl titles. This included their first playoff victory since 1993 in the 2015 season, their first consecutive division titles in franchise history, and their first Super Bowl title in 50 years in Super Bowl LIV.
Reid was born in Los Angeles on March 19, 1958. He attended John Marshall High School and worked as a vendor at Dodger Stadium as a teenager. Reid first grew his mustache while sailing as a cadet aboard the TS Golden Bear during his time at the California Maritime Academy. Reid played youth sports in East Hollywood, at Lemon Grove Recreation Center, where Pete Arbogast, the radio announcer for the USC football team and play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Bengals, was one of his coaches. In 1971, at age 13, Reid was on Monday Night Football participating in the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition; he was already so large that he wore the jersey of Les Josephson, who was 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and 207 pounds (94 kg).
In high school, Reid played football for coach Hiroshi Tanaka while at Marshall and was named a scholar athlete, MVP, all-league, all-city and All-American. Reid was also named all-league in baseball as a pitcher. Reid played offensive tackle at Glendale Community College in Glendale, California, and planned to transfer to Stanford but injured his knee. While at Glendale, Reid was named all-conference and most inspirational player. BYU head coach LaVell Edwards wanted Reid's teammate and best friend Randy Tidwell, and also recruited Reid to the team to help persuade Tidwell to come to BYU. At BYU, Reid was a teammate of Jim McMahon and Tom Holmoe. Teammates recalled that Reid did not play often but was very analytical, closely studying Edwards and offensive coordinator Doug Scovil. BYU won the 1980 Holiday Bowl in his senior year.
Reid had thought of becoming a writer, but continued to question Edwards about football strategy, causing Edwards to suggest coaching as a career. After graduating from BYU in 1981, Reid spent one year as a graduate assistant on the school's football coaching staff; colleagues included Scovil, Norm Chow, and Mike Holmgren. He spent the next nine years as an offensive line coach with four colleges. During his college coaching career, Reid was on the staff of several teams, including San Francisco State, Northern Arizona University, the University of Texas at El Paso, and the University of Missouri. In 1986, as coach at Northern Arizona, he coached Frank Pollack, who went on to play for six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. In 1990 while at Missouri, he coached in the Fifth Down Game against Colorado; Eric Bieniemy, who would later become Reid's offensive coordinator with the Chiefs, was Colorado's starting running back.
Reid was hired by Holmgren at the Green Bay Packers in 1992, the same year quarterback Brett Favre became a member of that team, placing Reid in the Bill Walsh coaching tree. In 1995, he became the assistant offensive line and tight ends coach, where he helped lead the 1996 team to a Super Bowl XXXI win over the New England Patriots. Reid was named the Packers' quarterbacks coach in 1997, replacing Marty Mornhinweg, who left to be the offensive coordinator for his predecessor in Green Bay, Steve Mariucci. Mariucci wanted Reid to be his offensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, but Holmgren prevented the move.
Consistent with his reputation for a focus on football details, Reid arrived at his interview with the Eagles with a five-inch thick book he developed on how he would go about running the team if given the job. The Eagles hired Reid on January 11, 1999; he was the second-youngest head coach in the league after Jon Gruden and the first then to be hired as a head coach without first having served as an offensive or defensive coordinator. Some in the Philadelphia news media criticized the hiring, citing the availability of other candidates who had already served previously as successful head coaches.
