10 Things You Didn’t Know about Andy Reid
Andy Reid has been an NFL head coach for 21 years. In the National Football League, that’s the equivalent to several careers and good careers too. To put things in perspective, that’s longer than Bill Walsh and John Madden.. combined. He’s lasted longer than Jimmy Johnson and Bill Cowher who were just inducted into the Hall of Fame. Reid’s resume as a head coach looks great, minus one thing – he’s never won a Super Bowl. Despite his longevity, this will be his second trip the big game having lost with the Eagles in 2005 to the New England Patriots. With the chance to either cement his legacy or be known as the great coach who never won, here are 10 things you may have not known about Kansas City Chief’s head coach Andy Reid.
1. The Infamous Punt, Pass and Kick Video
One thing most people do know about Andy Reid is the video of him when he was 13-years old participating in the Punt, Pass and Kick competition during a Los Angeles Rams game. The video shows a massive kid, Reid, who dwarfs his competition. To be fair, the kids next to him are in a different age group, but Reid sticks out like a sore thumb. If you haven’t seen the video from 1971, I suggest you read the story behind this hilarious footage.
2. The Favre Connection
When you look at the NFL coaching tree it seems like all prominent coaches are somehow connected to other prominent coaches, who they served under at some point. Like many others this was the case with Andy Reid when he started his career with the Green Bay Packers under coach Mike Holmgren. In 1995, he was the assistant offensive line coach and tight ends coach with the Pack. A year later he was promoted to quarterback coach – who was the quarterback at the time in Green Bay – none other than the great Brett Favre.
3. The Playbook of Mormon
Andy Reid attended Brigham Young University where he played defensive end and offensive guard. He met his wife Tammy in school who he married in 1981. While there he converted to Mormonism from Lutheranism. Together, they have five children, sons Garrett, Britt and Spencer and daughters Crosby and Drew Ann. At the moment, his son Britt is the Chiefs linebackers and outside linebackers coach.
4. Family Tragedy
On August 5, 2012, Andy Reid’s eldest son Garrett died of an accidental heroin overdose while at Eagles training camp at Lehigh University. The 29-year old Reid had struggled with substance abuse for years and spent time in prison in 2007 for a high-speed car crash in which heroin and pills were found in his vehicle. At the time of death, Garrett was working in an unofficial capacity assisting the teams strength and conditioning coaches.
5. College Coaching Merry-Go-Round
Prior to joining the Green Bay Packers, Reid had quite a busy college coaching career. After serving as a graduate assistant at BYU, the Chiefs lead man was an offensive line coach with four colleges over the course of nine years. You’d be hard-pressed to try and connect the dots but the schools include San Francisco State University, Northern Arizona University, University of Texas El Paso and University of Missouri. Amazingly, he made the jump to the Green Bay Packers after his time at Missouri.
6. Success in Philly
Despite not winning a Super Bowl during his 14-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, Andy Reid’s resume was very good. He finished with a 130-93-1 record, went to 5 NFC Championship games (including four in a row from 2001-2004), won 6 division titles and recorded a 10-9 playoff record. Overall, Reid’s tenure in Philadelphia is considered a success and even though at the time fans wanted him out, many of those same fans are rooting for him in this year’s Super Bowl.
7. One of the Highest Paid
Only a handful of coaches made more money than Andy Reid in 2019. The top earning head coach is New England Patriots’ skipper Bill Belichick at at $12.5 million per year. He is followed by Pete Carroll ($11 million), Jon Gruden ($10 million), Sean Payton ($9 million) and then Reid at $7.5 million per year. Reid signed a 5-year contract extension at $7.5 million per year in 2017 so he’ll be at the helm of the Chiefs for a few more years, especially if he wins it all in a couple weeks.
8. Creative Nickname
Most of the NFL coaches have nicknames. Andy Reid’s nickname has absolutely no creativity whatsoever – Big Red. He did have the nickname “The Walrus” for a while. Both are pretty obvious and, well, mundane.
9. Competitive Eater
Before Andy Reid took the head coaching job with the Philadelphia Eagles, he had a nice interview dinner with Jeffrey Lurie. There has been a tall-tale going around that during this dinner Reid took down 3 steaks that approximately weighed a total of 50 oz. Reid has denied remembering it, but by all accounts it seems to be confirmed by Lurie and others. The story is pretty amazing seeing most people would just order the cheapest thing on the menu and a glass of water during an interview meal.
10. Celebrating Another Super Bowl Appearance
The beautiful thing about Andy Reid is the simplicity. When asked what he did to celebrate the Chiefs winning the AFC title – his answer was straight, “I had a cheeseburger and went to bed”. His opposing coach, Kyle Shanahan, had a party at his house to celebrate. Not Reid. This isn’t his first rodeo and I’m sure that the cheeseburger was enough celebration for him. It’s a thing of beauty.
