It’s no surprise that the fine folks at PFF are big fans of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. After all, the one-time Super Bowl champion is widely considered the best offensive mind of his time and has had success in multiple locations with a wide variety of quarterbacks. However, thanks to his recent work with Patrick Mahomes, Pro Football Focus named Reid as the NFL’s best coach.
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PFF: Andy Reid Is the Best Head Coach in the NFL
Ever since his time with the Philadelphia Eagles, Andy Reid has been considered one of the best coaches in the NFL. However, ever since he got an elite quarterback in Patrick Mahomes, the one-time Coach of the Year has been nearly unstoppable. The Kansas City Chiefs have been the class of the NFL since 2018, appearing in two Super Bowls, winning one, and coming inches away from appearing in a third.
Reid finished 2020 on a low note, as he simply didn’t have an answer for Todd Bowles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense. However, PFF’s Eric Eager notes that this was the first time since 2017 that Reid lost by more than one score and the first time since 2014 that his team failed to score a touchdown. This was clearly an outlier performance, and the fact that this happens so infrequently is just a testament to how good he is.
Throughout the course of his career, Reid earned a reputation as a coach that struggles with situational football and managing the clock in tight situations. However, that issue didn’t emerge in 2020, as Reid’s Chiefs were 9-1 in one-score games. Eager goes on to note that Kansas City has never hit the under in their projected win total since Reid took over, and he doesn’t see that changing in 2021.
Tony Romo lost his mind after Andy Reid called a pass on fourth and inches for the game.pic.twitter.com/SqMKtljts4
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) January 17, 2021
Andy Reid’s Long History of Greatness
Having Patrick Mahomes as your quarterback obviously makes life easier as a coach, but Reid has a long track record of success without elite quarterbacks. Originally taking over in Philadelphia back in 1999, Reid guided the good-but-not-great Donovan McNabb to the best seasons of his career. Philadelphia made it to the NFC Championship Game in four straight seasons and finally made it to the Super Bowl in 2004. However, the team fell short to the New England Patriots, and Reid never made it back to the big stage with Philadelphia.
Even without a ring, Reid’s run in Philadelphia had plenty of great moments. Aside from his success with McNabb, the head coach also brought out the best in Michael Vick. During the 2010 campaign, Vick replaced an injured Kevin Kolb and never gave back the starting job. In what was easily the best season of his career, Vick completed 62.6% of his passes for 3,018 yards, 21 touchdowns, and six interceptions while adding another 676 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. Had Tom Brady not won the award unanimously, Vick probably would have finished second in the MVP voting.
After the failed experiment that was the “Dream Team”, Reid took over in Kansas City and guided Alex Smith to the best years of his career. The head coach recorded double-digit wins in four of his five years with Smith calling the shots, and never had a losing record.
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