The announcement that legendary New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick will become the next head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels will nearly ensure that the Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach has a legitimate path to catch Don Shula.
I do not focus on milestones because Super Bowl wins matter in this Kansas City Chiefs football era. However, with the news that Bill Belichick is retiring from the NFL and going back to school to coach the North Carolina Tar Heels, Andy Reid, if he continues coaching and the Chiefs keep winning games, could become the all-time leader in wins in the NFL.
At 270 wins, Reid has just 32 victories from tying Belichick with 302 career wins. If he’s fortunate to keep Mahomes as his quarterback at that point, he’d be just 26 wins from catching Don Shula, who has 328 career wins.
To put this in perspective, among the active coaches in the NFL, the closest to Reid is Mike Tomlin, who has 183 wins; after that, it’s John Harbaugh and Sean Payton, who have 168 career wins.
Andy Reid is a national treasure and a gifted head coach. What he’s done to resurrect a Chiefs franchise in the dumps over a decade ago is nothing short of a miracle. He overcame the biggest albatross in team history by ending the 50-year gap between Super Bowl Titles, which remains his most significant accomplishment in Kansas City.
He’s brought stability to a franchise in peril from self-destruction, the death of Jovan Belcher, losing seasons, and an empty Arrowhead.
He came in and immediately set forth a plan that led to winning seasons under Alex Smith and to the heights it is today with Patrick Mahomes. Like his friend Bill Belichick, Reid understands how to handle star athletes, Hall of Famers, and the grunt guys who make up most of the roster.
Yet, each understands the complexity of building multiple Super Bowl Champions and managing every aspect of the team that builds dynasties.
Now, with Belichick moving to the collegiate ranks, Reid has a chance to have the most wins in NFL history. If he coaches four more seasons and averages 15 wins, including the postseason, he can walk into the NFL with a record nobody else will break.
If he can become the only NFL head coach in history to win three straight Super Bowl titles, he’d already surpass Belichick and Shula as the greatest head coach ever.
The fact he’s had this kind of success without changing who he is or compromising his plan at any level and being as grounded a family man as he’s been to this point in his life, we all need to understand that path takes incredible sacrifices.
On the outside, Reid seems calm, but inside, he’s a competitor as intense as his quarterback. He gives his players some slack, but he demands excellence from them, and he is a stickler for the details of the game. If you want to know why Reid is so successful in the postseason, he practices every element of the game repeatedly until it becomes second nature for his staff and players.
This was meant to be a column about the numbers, but it’s hard to argue the greatness of Reid and even wilder to think he’s doing this in Kansas City. The Chiefs are the new Patriots; whether you love or hate them, you will never be able to respect them.
Reid signed a contract extension through the 2029 season that will pay him roughly $20 million per year. This comes with generational wealth for his family, peace of mind for Reid, and respect from Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, who wrote the check.
Looking back at his time in Philadelphia, I wonder if, even when he was hired, it was inconceivable the Chiefs would have won three of the last six Super Bowls and are chasing history.
Should they three-peat, Reid’s only goal is to pass Shula’s mark.
