Chiefs owner points to the one thing Andy Reid did that helped change the course of the franchise

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Kansas City’s head coach is entering his 11th year in charge of the team and his presence has reshaped the organization.

It’s not a secret that the Kansas City Chiefs have one of the best head coaches in the NFL. Andy Reid has won three Super Bowls in KC and he’s really hopeful for another one.

His career in the league started in 1992: he was hired by the Green Bay Packers to be assistant offensive line & tight ends coach. Later on, he took a step forward and became quarterbacks coach & assistant head coach.

The first door that opened for Reid to actually take over as head coach was in 1999, when the 66-year-old was named HC of the Philadelphia Eagles – he spent 13 years running the team. He made four appearances in consecutive NFC championship games and one Super Bowl.

Reid moved to Kansas City because he said he needed a change. In 2012, the Eagles finished 4-12, the worst record of his career. That’s because the coach was going through personal problems – grieving the death of his son who died of an accidental overdose.

On the other side, Brady Quinn and Matt Cassel were Kansas City’s quarterbacks at the time. They finished with a 2-14 campaign that year, the worst in the league. Later, then-coach Romeo Crennel was fired on December 31^st, 2012.

The franchise also needed a fresh look. It seems to have been the plan of fate. In Reid’s first game in charge, the Chiefs beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-2. It was KC’s largest margin of victory on opening day since they defeated the Denver Broncos in 1963 by a score of 59-7.

Coach Reid quickly implemented a new mentality in the locker room and a new way of looking at the game that are still a huge part of the organization to this day. The Kansas City Chiefs have never been the same since then – thankfully.

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The Chiefs’ new culture

The person who can best talk about Andy Reid’s impact on KC’s makeover is owner Clark Hunt, who has closely witnessed the entire process of reshaping the team.

On the newest edition of This is Football, ESPN’s NFL show, journalist Kevin Clark spoke exclusively to the franchise’s CEO about the power of the HC in the Chiefs’ ongoing dominance in the league.

Hunt’s most used phrase was ‘changing culture’ when referring to Reid’s greatest achievement in the organization as a whole.

“From the moment he walked into our building, he completely changed the culture and that was the reboot that we needed.”

“If you look back at that 2013 team, we had some pretty good talent on it. We’d had a bunch of guys who made the Pro Bowl the year before, but we just weren’t being successful.”

“Andy literally came in and overnight changed the culture. We started off that season winning nine straight games, which was amazing for a team that had won a couple of games the year before.”

Looking for a deeper answer, the reporter asked what was behind ‘changing the culture’.

“I think it was getting everybody on the same page. So that’s players and coaches, that if you’re part of the Kansas City Chiefs, everybody’s here for a common goal.”

Hunt also spoke about the importance of the coach having established a sense of collectivity in all the squads he has been in charge of.

“This is not a place where you need to be thinking a lot about yourself. You’ve got to be thinking a lot about the team. And there’s a high expectation, right? We expect to win and you’re expected to be a contributing part of that.”

Everything Reid has been through over the course of his life, both on and off the field, is very remarkable. And it’s a privilege to see him achieve so much.

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