10 Times Andy Reid Was A Bonafide Football Genius

In Super Bowl LIV Andy Reid will get the opportunity to rewrite his legacy in the NFL. For most of his two-decade head coaching career he’s been known for his flaws more than his brilliance that allowed him to remain on the sidelines this whole time.

A coach with the infamous label that not even terrible head coaches want: Highly successful but can’t win the Big One. If the Chiefs win the Super Bowl, that legacy will be rewritten forever and it’ll seal his Hall of Fame status.

Now that the Eagles finally got their Super Bowl trophy and buried their past demons, most fans will cheer on their former head coach who kicked off two decades of unprecedented success of Eagles football.

With the biggest game of his career almost underway, lets look back and see the times when Andy Reid showed how he’s a bonafide football genius.

 

Bringing in Jim Johnson as Defensive Coordinator

As an unproven quarterbacks coach for Mike Holmgren and Brett Favre’s Packers, Andy Reid had a lot to prove when hiring his coaching staff. He nailed it by bringing in Jim Johnson as his defensive coordinator.

Considering how Philadelphia is a city that loves great defensive football, Johnson and his squad carved their own spot in Eagles history throughout great success in the 2000s. Who knows if Reid would have been as successful if he didn’t hire someone as good?

 

Trading up to Draft Patrick Mahomes

Just a couple years later and the drafting of Patrick Mahomes is already seen as a monumental moment in NFL history. We keep reading the stories about how the Saints were plotting to take him to be the heir to Drew Brees, and how the 49ers considered taking him while Kirk Cousin’s free agent status was in limbo. And, of course, Da Bears traded up to draft Mitch Trubisky over two potential Hall of Famers.

Andy Reid has had good quarterback play, but he’s never had someone like Mahomes whose destined to become the next face of the NFL. This move to draft him may launch Reid into Canton.

 

Drafting Donovan McNabb over Ricky Williams in 1999

Plenty of Eagles fans drank the Kool-Aid in 1999 and hoped they took Heisman trophy winning running back Ricky Williams.

Despite the vocally negative reception, Andy Reid made the right choice in drafting his franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb. Unfortunately the booing on draft night would set the tone for a complicated relationship between McNabb and the fan base that continues to this day, but the on-field results speak for themselves.

Also, while Ricky Williams had one of the most interesting careers in NFL history, how do you think the Philly faithful would’ve handled Ricky Williams weed drama? Regardless of how one felt about weed at the time, it would undoubtedly create mass insanity on the sports talk stations.

 

Acquiring Jason Peters

This brilliant move doesn’t get talked about enough. In the midst of a contract dispute, the Eagles acquired Pro Bowl Buffalo Bills tackle Jason Peters for a 1st, 4th and 6th round pick. Just like that the Birds had their franchise left tackle for a decade who’ll be on his way to Canton once he hangs it up.

Andy Reid remarked at the time of the trade that “Jason Peters ins the best left tackle in football”, he was not wrong.

 

Bringing Nick Foles out of Retirement

If you read Nick Foles’ book in the Summer of 2018 like everyone did, you’ll know that after a miserable 2015 season in St. Louis Nick Foles was done with football. The only person interested in bringing him back to the league was his old coach who drafted him.

Foles pretty much had his mind set on being done with football, but a nice camping and fishing trip with his brother-in-law allowed him to clear his mind and give it the NFL another go.

In Kansas City Nicki Sixx started one game in 2016 and won, but more importantly found his love of the game again. He would find more familiar friends the next season and the rest is history…

 

Drafting the veterans of the 2017 Eagles

Andy Reid’s departure from Philly and the Super Bowl championship are only five seasons apart. Some of his players managed to survive Chip Kelly’s nuclear meltdown of the roster and saw the the fruits of their labor pay off tremendously.

As the 2017 Eagles faced hardships late in the season, especially with their franchise quarterback’s season ending injury, veterans who saw the end of the Reid era rallied the team to an epic playoff run.

Brent Celek, Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham (a draft pick that Reid was flogged over for passing over Earl Thomas), and of course Nick Foles, each played big roles in delivering the Holy Grail for all Eagles fans.

 

Reviving Mike Vick’s Career

Coming off a two year prison sentence in 2009, Michael Vick looked liked the most radioactive free agent in NFL history.

Yet despite the initial backlash, the Eagles signing Vick actually worked. Coming off the end of the Donovan McNabb era, the Eagles put their hopes on Kevin Kolb being the future of the franchise, but once Vick stepped in from injury, he managed to revive a career that was once the most electric in all of football.

While the experiment didn’t last long and led to the end of his coaching tenure in Philly, Andy Reid far more out of Vick than anyone could have ever imagined. Not to mention that Vick became a good member of society after being signed by the Eagles.

 

Not Panicking Under two Epic Comebacks

The most epic comeback of Andy Reid’s coaching career is obviously the Miracle at the Meadowlands II, but the Kansas City Chief’s 24 point comeback in the first half of the playoffs against the Houston Texans comes pretty damn close.

In both games, Reid didn’t panic and let his players play.

 

Not Snapping at the Philly Media for 14 years

When a President (forget the current one) finally finishes office after 4 or 8 years, they are probably happy as hell because they’re finally free from the immense pressures and criticisms of being in office 24/7. Andy Reid being head coach of the Eagles may not be as stressful as being President, but it’s still the toughest job in Philadelphia.

Reid endured criticism from the Philly media everyday for 14 years, especially when the NFC champion game losses started piling up. Yet never had Reid a full-blown breakdown or rant when facing a very tough and relentless local media. We remember McNabb’s passive aggressive takes, we remember A.I. talkin’ bout practice. Reid’s most memorable lines are “enjoy the win” “ham sandwich” and “time’s yours”.

 

Grooming Doug Pederson

When the Chip Kelly experiment fell on it’s face, Jeff Lurie and Howie Roseman saw the great coaching tree Andy Reid had and decided to take one of his students.

Doug Pederson’s history with Andy Reid goes back a long time from his days as Brett Farve’s backup to being a mentor to Donvan McNabb in 1999, to becoming Reid’s quarterbacks coach in Philly and his offensive coordinator in Kansas City.

As everyone in Philly pointed out whether cynically or factually, Doug Pederson got the head coaching job in Philadelphia because of Andy Reid. Pederson showed he was as capable as Reid but was also willing to take risks that Andy wouldn’t have.

Thus began what’s already a hugely successful era of Eagles football with three straight playoff berths and a whopping Vince Lombardi trophy at the Linc.

Now it’s Andy’s turn to get his.