Sunday night will be a homecoming for Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who started his NFL coaching career with the Green Bay Packers. Reid is one of the top head coaches in the history of the league. Earlier this season, he passed Tom Landry for fourth place for most all-time wins.
Reid played three seasons as an offensive lineman at BYU from 1979 to 1981 and would start his coaching career at his alma mater as a graduate assistant in 1982. The school’s quarterbacks coach at the time was future Packers head coach Mike Holmgren.
Reid moved on to San Francisco State the next season to be the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Reid had stops at Northern Arizona, UTEP, and Missouri as an offensive line coach from 1986 to 1991.
Andy Reid’s Path to the NFL
Holmgren and the Packers hired Reid in 1992 to coach the offensive line and tight ends. It was the same season that quarterback Brett Favre arrived in Green Bay. Reid held that position for five seasons before becoming the team’s quarterbacks coach.
MORE: Which Teams Has Andy Reid Coached?
Reid explained earlier this week why he moved to the NFL: “It was a good opportunity. I worked for Mike Holmgren for seven years and had a hard time believing anybody did it better, and I still feel that way.”
In two seasons with Reid as quarterbacks coach, Favre won his third straight MVP in 1997 and led the league in completion percentage and passing yards in 1998. Favre told ESPN in 2016, “I could not have had a better coach than Andy. That guy was tremendous. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from Andy.”
During Reid’s seven seasons in Green Bay, the Packers made the playoffs six times and reached the Super Bowl twice. The Packers defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI and lost to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII the next season.
Reid recently said about his time in Green Bay, “I had a great time there. We won a World Championship, so my experience there was top-notch.”
Moving on From Green Bay
Reid left the Packers after being hired as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach in 1999. In 14 seasons with Philadelphia, he went 130-93-1, won six NFC East titles, and made the playoffs nine times. Reid’s teams reached the NFC Championship game five times with the Eagles but only won once. In the 2004 season, Philadelphia lost to the Patriots 24-21 in Super Bowl XXXIX.
After a 4-12 season in 2012, the Eagles fired Reid, but he didn’t stay unemployed for long because the Chiefs hired him eight days later. Entering this season, Reid’s teams have made the playoffs nine times in 10 years and are closing in on another playoff berth in 2023. The Chiefs have made the Super Bowl three times and won two championships since the 2019 season.
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