Kansas City head coach Andy Reid spent 14 years with the Philadelphia Eagles and loves the city. However, he will have to put his emotions aside when facing his former club in the Super Bowl. Reid hopes to win his second Super Bowl with the Chiefs but is aware of the challenge of preparing a game plan against the team he coached in 224 NFL games.
Focusing on Game Plan Only
A day after the Kansas City Chiefs knocked out the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game, Reid was asked if he would have preferred to face a different team. He said that when you “really cut to the chase on it” the Chiefs were facing “a really good football team” and that was where all their energy needed to go.
Reid added that he wouldn’t focus on the uniform and that he would only be thinking about the players and coaches they were going against and the “solid game plan” they were going to come up with.
According to the former Eagles coach, the Chiefs, and himself included, needed “to blank out all the hype” that comes with a game as big as the Super Bowl and focus on “getting the game plan together.”
Fifth Coach to Play against a Former Team in the Super Bowl
After 14 years as an Eagles coach, Reid left with a 130-93-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance but didn’t win the Lombardy Trophy. He has said on many occasions that the decision to leave the Eagles after a 4-12 season in 2012 was mutual and that everyone felt a fresh start was needed.
Reid said that 14 years was a long time but that he “loved every minute of it,” as the Eagles had a “phenomenal owner” in Jeffrey Lurie, who gave Reid’s family everything they needed.
So, when they decided to part ways, they did that “with a ton of respect for each other.” He also gave credit to Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who, according to Reid, did a great job for the team.
Reid has been with the Chiefs since 2013 and has a 117-45 record. Unlike his tenure in Philadelphia, he managed to win the Super Bowl with his current team and missed the playoffs only once since taking over.
He is the fifth head coach in Super Bowl history to play against a club he coached, with the four others being Pete Carroll, Jon Gruden, Dan Reeves, and Weeb Ewbank. They went 2-2 against their former teams.
