LAS VEGAS — Andy Reid is following Chris Jones, the defensive cornerstone of his three Super Bowl championship teams.
After the Kansas City Chiefs’ 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LII, Jones lay on the field, drained of energy and soaking in the excitement of his new dynasty. Feeling. Reid and Jones stood on the turf together, hands on the ground, shaking the player’s shoulder pads.
“What do you think, huh?” Reed called to Jones as confetti fell around them. Reed moved his face closer to Jones and repeated it for effect. “what do you think?!”
The childlike joy was a rare outpouring of emotion for the Chiefs’ veteran head coach. Reed’s bushy eyebrows and mustache, as well as his small, round glasses, give him a unique look but also serve to hide his true feelings.
All the feelings 🥹❤️ pic.twitter.com/yd1ByK7VPw
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) February 12, 2024
“He never showed any emotion,” cornerback Jarius Snead said after the game. “He’s like a snake, ah! Coming to get you. That’s what I like about him, like a little rattlesnake.”
Diamondback Reid dug his fangs into the Niners Sunday in Las Vegas, with receiver Mecole Hardman scoring the game-winning touchdown in overtime. This is the debut of the new overtime playoff rule, inspired by the Chiefs’ 2021 overtime win over the Bills. Kansas City didn’t win this time, but the Chiefs remained unstoppable.
The 25-22 victory was Reed’s third Super Bowl in his fifth attempt. He is now the fifth head coach to win at least three championships, joining Bill Belichick (six), Chuck Noll (four), Bill Walsh Walsh) and Joe Gibbs (three) and is the seventh coach to win them all in back-to-back tournaments. Go back a few years.
“It’s a little surreal,” Reid said at the postgame press conference. “Back-to-backs are rare for this team and this organization. I don’t know what a dynasty is. You guys have thesaurus, you can guess it. It’s a great win because I know how hard it is. I Knowing how hard this season is, how many ups and downs there are.”
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Reid’s Chiefs summed up the season and their coach more clearly.
“Dynasty, I think we’ve done all the qualifying rounds,” receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling said in the locker room after the game. “If he wasn’t the best, he was one of the best ever.”
“Check the statistics, check the numbers,” Snead said. “He’s a legend.”
“He’s one of the greatest players in football, which makes him one of the greatest coaches,” Chiefs assistant running backs coach Porter Elliott said. “Now it’s getting harder and harder to argue against him being in the top two or three.”
“He was a Hall of Fame coach before tonight,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “But a third Super Bowl in five years, I think really cements him as one of the best players to ever play the game.”
“I wouldn’t want to play for another coach,” center Creed Humphrey said. “He’s the best coach in the game right now.”
Reed’s three Super Bowl titles make him a rare companion, and he’s not done yet. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
With Kansas City trailing 10-3 at halftime, Reid didn’t panic. The offense stalled. Mahomes was under constant pressure and sacked twice, while running back Isaiah Pacheco missed the Chiefs’ most promising drive. But Reid’s message to players and staff was the same: Keep moving forward.
“When you go into the Super Bowl and you’re down seven points, it feels like you’re down 20,” Reid said. “So, you just calm down — we’re right there, we’re getting the ball to start the second half, everybody’s playing off each other — and good things are going to happen.”
“When you’re down 10 points in a big game like this, a lot of coaches don’t handle it well and they start throwing things at the wall and hope it sticks,” Humphrey said. “But he stuck to the game plan. He had a great game plan for us. He did a great job and was a great coach.”
“As good as he is as a coach, he’s never going to change,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “He stayed the course. He was a leader of humanity and a great teacher. Not only did he teach his players, he taught his coaches how to be good leaders. And then you come together and make things happen.”
The two players who scored touchdowns for Kansas City on Sunday were direct evidence of the togetherness that coaches say sets Reed apart. Valdes-Scantling, who scored his first touchdown Sunday, has battled costly falls all season. Hardman returned to the Chiefs via trade after being waived by the Jets during the season and struggled in the playoffs, notably fumbling in Buffalo’s end zone before scoring the game-winning field goal.
“Coach Reed is one of those guys who stays the course no matter what,” Valdes-Scantling said. “We’re all here for a reason, we all compete, we all have special skills that we have, and it’s good for him to continue to maintain that and stay with us through it all.”
This is Elette’s seventh season on the Kansas City staff. When he was 4 years old, his right arm was injured in an accident and was later amputated. He had never played football and connected with Reid when his assistant position opened up. From that point on, Reed taught him how to be a coach.
“He would never give up on someone,” Elliott said. “He has confidence in people. If you reward his belief, he’s going to continue to trust you. I mean, I’m a great example of that. People aren’t going to hire a one-armed football coach who hasn’t played football.”
Since Reid is 65 years old, speculation has grown about his future. How long will he continue to coach? How many more rings will this budding dynasty get? When asked after Sunday’s win if he would return to coach in Kansas City next season, Reed said nonchalantly: “Yeah, I haven’t had time to think about it yet, but yeah, sure.”
Chiefs players won’t hear any noise.
“He still has a lot in the tank,” Humphrey said.
“We won two Super Bowls in a row,” Valdez-Scantling said. “We’re working hard to find another one.”
Additionally, the boss believes Reid will stay on for a while.
“I know Andy is full of energy and loves what he’s doing,” Hunter said. “I certainly hope he can come back next year to defend our championship.”
(Photo: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
