Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt generated headlines when he confidently declared on Monday night that he knew “for a fact” that head coach Andy Reid would return for at least one more season.
Reid put talk about his intentions to bed while speaking with reporters on Tuesday.
“Yes, I’ll be back,” Reid directly said, as shared by Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk.
Reid turns 67 next month and was the subject of some retirement rumors last winter before he guided the Chiefs to a third Super Bowl championship across five seasons. No such chatter hovered the club this past fall as Kansas City won 15 of 16 games before it punted on Week 18, and there’s no sign that Reid is either slowing down or satisfied with what he’s already accomplished as a three-time Super Bowl champion.
Some understandably speculate that Reid is chasing the likes of Bill Belichick and Don Shula regarding conversations about who the greatest coach in the history of pro football is. Belichick leads all head coaches with six career Super Bowl victories, while Shula’s 347 career wins (regular season and postseason combined) have him atop that category. Reid will enter this Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX matchup versus the Philadelphia Eagles, trailing Shula by 46 victories.
“That’s not part of it,” Reid said about the notion that he’s still coaching largely because he wants to one day be considered the GOAT of his profession. “I just enjoy teaching. I don’t get caught up much in the stats or the records. I enjoy being around the guys. I enjoy football, the game. You can’t put in the hours we do and not enjoy it. I love the game.”
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes turned 29 this past September. He is already a three-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player and may not yet be in the prime of his playing days. Additionally, future Hall of Fame tight end Travis Kelce seems prepared to give Kansas City at least a couple more seasons before he retires.
As long as Reid is healthy and happy, he could continue to make opposing coaches’ lives difficult throughout the 2020s.
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