Former Chiefs coach explains secret behind Kansas City’s success and why it’s not Patrick Mahomes or Travis Kelce.

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Andy Reid has revitalized the Chiefs since taking over in 2011.

 

The former Philadelphia head coach, who led the Eagles on multiple deep playoff runs.

but failed to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, has gone on to mastermind one of the NFL’s most dominant modern dynasties.

 

 

The Kansas City Chiefs head coach is one of the greatest minds in NFL history.

He has the fourth-most career wins in NFL history (299 and counting).

and is the only head coach in NFL history who has won 100 games with two franchises (Chiefs and Eagles).

His Chiefs currently have the best record in the NFL (15-1).

and have already locked up the AFC West title and AFC’s No. 1 seed with the playoffs looming.

Kansas City is gunning for an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat in 2025.

having won the last two showpiece events back-to-back.

But, despite boasting future Hall of Famers Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

one former coach thinks Reid is the secret to their ongoing success.

 

Eric Bieniemy, who worked as the Chiefs OC for four years under ‘Big Red’, believes that his former HC has been more pivotal to the Chiefs’ success than any other factor.

 

Bieniemy said: “The thing that allows them to have the consistency, first of all, is they have one of the best Hall of Fame coaches.

You know, in our modern-day era, Coach Reid has done a heck of a job.

But on top of that, Coach Reid has done a great job of building a culture and getting these guys to understand.”

The former NFL coordinator, who won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs as part of Reid’s coaching staff.

believes culture is everything when it comes to winning.

And Bieniemy reckons Reid is better than anyone at setting a winning culture.

He thinks the 66-year-old has a unique way of getting every player, star or otherwise, to put personal ambitions aside .

and ‘buy in’ to whatever he’s selling to enable the team to win at the very highest level.

“I’m talking about all the personal stats,” Bieniemy went on.

 

 

 

“Personal stats do not mean anything. It’s about those two little alphabets and one that says W and L.

When it’s all said and done with, you got to find a way to make sure collectively….”

There were big question marks about the Chiefs heading into the season .

and whether they could replicate the success of previous years.

But through Week 17 Reid’s team has silenced all of the doubters.

especially after coming through three games in 11 days over a busy Christmas period.

KC clinched home-field advantage in the playoffs and a first-round bye with a 29-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day.

NFL Network analyst Gregg Rosenthal thinks Reid had a masterplan and executed it to perfection.

“They faced a lot of different challenges over the years but it does feel like they were almost just waiting to get to the playoffs this year .

and that suddenly gave them a finish line,” he told talkSPORT’s Will Gavin.

 

 

“It gave them a challenge they’ve actually never had before.

This is unique.

I’m sure they talked about it in the locker room.

“Andy Reid said, ‘If you can win these three games, you guys get the bye, you’re off for a couple weeks.

Here is our goal. You get through the [Cleveland] Browns game.

You win these two games now in five days against good teams [the Steelers and Houston Texans], and you’re done.’

“It really does seem like, maybe the light at the end of the tunnel and getting to the part of the season that actually makes them feel alive.

because what’s the regular season to them?

“They do have a little bit of a [New England] Patriots vibe to them, of course, the later period Patriots – they would always crank it up in mid-December and now the Chiefs are doing it.”

With the No. 1 seed locked in, Reid must now decide whether to rest his stars against the Denver Broncos in the Week 18 regular season finale.

Quarterback Mahomes hasn’t missed a game for the Chiefs this season.

but it seems likely he’ll get a rest after recently shaking off a high-ankle injury.

 

 

That could see Carson Wentz start under center against the Broncos.

with the likes of Kelce and Chris Jones also rested as Reid prioritizes the strength and fitness of his stars.

The Chiefs will have had ten days rest by the time the Denver game rolls around.

And with a first-round bye secured, that means whoever gets rested won’t face anybody until at least January 18 in the divisional round, meaning a full 24 days between games.

“It’s been almost 10 weeks of football, grinding on this short schedule at the very end of the year,” Mahomes said.

“We’ll see how Week 18 goes — who plays, who doesn’t play.

That’s up to Coach. But having this break, getting healthy, getting ourselves ready for the playoffs.

it was super important, especially with the guys we have banged up.”

 

“They were able to get some rest, which I thought was important,” Reid added.

 

“I’m not recommending that you do that every year so, but down the road.

I think we’ll be okay from it because of the rest that we gained here so.

and that we also have the bye week coming up where, you know, there’s a chance that guys get a day or two off.”