Former longtime Philadelphia Eagles and current Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid will get his second chance at a Super Bowl ring and bringing a Lombardi Trophy back to the team's respected city. Reid coached the Birds from 1999-2012, and brought a lot of success back to Philadelphia after the team suffered during the Rich Kotite & Ray Rhodes Eras of the 1990s.
Reid has 28 years of NFL coaching experience, which started when he served as an assistant in Green Bay under Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Holmgreen. Reid learned a lot of his offensive philosophy from plays that Holmgreen had thrown away in his office when Reid was the quarterbacks coach for the Packers. During his time as a quarterback coach in Green Bay, Reid had the privilege of mentoring NFL legend Brett Favre and also helped the quarterback through his Super Bowl XXXI win over the New England Patriots.
When Reid arrived in Philadelphia in 1999, the Birds drafted Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb to become the franchise QB. Year one was a losing season, but it was a necessary transition year to build for the future and what would eventually become one of the most successful eras of Eagles football. From 2000-2004, Eagles fans were living the dream as the team constantly had excellent playoff runs. One playoff exit ended in the divisional round, but then there were four straight trips to the NFC Championship game. The Birds and their fans like to forget about the first three these days, but their 2004 NFC Championship victory over the Atlanta Falcons sent the Eagles to Jacksonville for Super Bowl XXXIX. Unfortunately, they fell short to the hated New England Patriots, a game that the Birds deserved to win (especially once SpyGate came out).
Coach Reid's Eagles teams would have four more playoff runs after the Super Bowl, and one more NFC Championship game appearance. The Reid Era in Philadelphia ended after the 2012 season, but I think Coach Reid entered the 2012 season on bad terms by losing his son during training camp. Personally, I do not know what it is like to lose a son, so I can not imagine what that year was like for Reid to endure.
After the 2012 season, Andy Reid accepted the head coaching job with the Kansas City Chiefs, and he has been out there ever since. Reid has brought the Cheifs to six playoff appearances and four consecutive AFC West Championships. Coach Reid has also brought the Cheifs seven straight winning seasons to to the ArrowHead faithful.
Since the Cheifs have won the AFC Championship, I have seen a lot of articles from Philadelphia's local news saying that it is okay to root for Andy Reid, but to me, it is more than okay to root for Coach Reid. He also has an outstanding quarterback in Patrick Mahomes on his side to help him get over that last hump. The 49ers are a worthy foe, but if I had to pick in Super Bowl LIV, my heart is with Andy Reid all the way. After all he has been through in his life and the success he brought the Eagles, he really does deserve to finally win a Super Bowl as a head coach.
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