The Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid will go down as one of the greatest QB-head coach duos of all time. Their legacy was cemented in Super Bowl LVIII, when they became only the fourth QB-head coach duo to win three Super Bowls together.
With the 25-22 overtime win over the San Francisco 49ers, Mahomes has gotten closer to entering the argument as the greatest quarterback of all time. When it comes to his coach, Mahomes feels that Reid is the best to ever do it.
“He’s one of the best coaches of all time,” Mahomes said following the Chiefs‘ third Super Bowl win in five years. “I believe he’s the best coach of all time. I mean, I know he doesn’t have the trophies yet. I have a lot of respect for some of those great coaches. But the way he is able to navigate every single team he has, continues to have success no matter where he’s at.
“For me, he brings out the best in me because he lets me be me, and I think that’s important. He doesn’t try to make me anyone else. I don’t think that I’d be the quarterback that I am if I didn’t have Coach Reid being my head coach. Other than that, he wants you to be the best person you can be, and that’s something that I truly think is special.”
Mahomes will likely get pushback for his take on Reid. As Mahomes himself alluded to, Reid doesn’t have as many rings as Bill Belichick (six) and Chuck Noll (four). However, by winning Super Bowl LVIII, Reid is now just one of five coaches to win three Super Bowls, joining Belichick, Noll, Joe Gibbs and Bill Walsh.
Reid has a few other feathers in his cap, and that’s being only the second coach this century to win multiple Super Bowls. He’s also the first coach in 19 years to win back-to-back titles. If that wasn’t enough, Reid made history four years ago by becoming the third coach to lead multiple franchises to the Super Bowl. Last year, he became the first coach to beat a team that he had previously coached in the big game.
Add in his incredible longevity, and Reid surely belongs any list ranking the greatest coaches of all time. And after shooting down reports of his retirement on Monday, it looks like Reid will have a chance to further strengthen his case in any debate of all-time coaches.
When it comes to Mahomes, Reid’s ability to let Mahomes do the things that make him special shouldn’t be overlooked. Instead of over-coaching him, Reid has given Mahomes the freedom to do the things that come natural to him while not trying to make him something he isn’t. The results have been historic, for both the quarterback and the coach who will both be in the Hall of Fame someday.
