Andy Reid is one of the winningest coaches in NFL History. Over 200 wins, only three losing seasons in 20 years, and his ability to take a struggling franchise and get them to become one of the more dominant teams in the league. Reid became one of just seven coaches to lead two different teams to a Super Bowl appearance. While his postseason career has been one of disappointment, the only thing separating Reid from being one of the all-time greats is a Super Bowl ring.
One of Reid’s more underrated qualities since he took the Eagles Head Coaching job in 1999, was his ability to acquire and develop not just great talent on the field, but also great talent as a coaching staff.
Several coordinators and assistant coaches under Andy Reid, throughout his tenure in Philadelphia and Kansas City, have been extremely successful as Head Coaches of their own organizations. Let’s take a look at the Andy Reid coaching tree.
John Harbaugh
Record: (118-74) Playoffs: (10-7) 1 Super Bowl win
John Harbaugh is one of Reid’s more successful coaches from the coaching tree. He was the Special Teams Coordinator for Reid’s Eagles from 1998-2007. Taking over a 5-11 Ravens team in 2008, Harbaugh led the Ravens to the AFC title game in his first year. He won at least one playoff game in each of his first five seasons, ending in a Super Bowl win in 2012. Harbaugh has been able to develop new offensive concepts with two different QB’s and is one of the league’s most premier coaches.
Ron Rivera
Record: (76-63-1) Playoffs: (3-4) 1 Super Bowl Appearance
Riverboat Ron was the Eagles linebackers coach from 1999-2003 and became the Carolina Panthers Head Coach in 2011. Before becoming HC, the Panthers had gone through a dismal 2-14 season and needed Rivera to right the ship. He won the NFC South three consecutive years and led the Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2015. All you need to know about Rivera, is the Panthers were 5-7 when they fired him this year. The wheels completely fell off right after that. Rivera is a great locker room presence and Washington will be very lucky to have him this year.
Doug Pederson
Record: (38-26) Playoffs: (4-2) 1 Super Bowl Win
Eagle fans know his story well. He was the starting QB before McNabb, he was the QB Coach when Vick was the QB in 2010, and was the Chiefs OC when Reid moved to Kansas City. Pederson was thought of as an unlikely hire when he was chosen to come back to Philadelphia, but has been one of the most successful HC’s of the Reid coaching tree. Leading Philadelphia to its first NFL Championship since 1960, he’s been able to lead an older roster to the playoffs in three of his four years as coach.
Sean McDermott
Record: (25-23) Playoffs: (0-2) No Playoff Wins
McDermott was a very interesting case. He took over as Defensive Coordinator for the Eagles when Jim Johnson passed away and got better as time went on. He took over as Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills three years ago and has brought the franchise back from irrelevance, to the playoffs multiple times. His two playoff appearances in three years are something former Bills Legend, Mark Levy couldn’t even do. His work has been impressive.
Matt Nagy
Record: (20-12) Playoff Record: (0-1) No Playoff Wins
Nagy is another interesting case because he has only been the coach of the Chicago Bear for two years. He was the QB Coach in Kansas City before replacing Doug Pederson as OC of the Chiefs when Pederson left to Philadelphia. Nagy took over a team that went 5-11 with John Fox and desperately needed someone to develop Mitch Trubisky. While year two didn’t go as exactly as planned, But in reality, it’s too close to decide on how good Nagy is going to be as a Head Coach.
Brad Childress
Record: (39-35) Playoff Record: (1-2) One Championship Game App
Remember this guy? The Offensive Coordinator for the Eagles during their NFC Title Appearance runs became Head Coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 2006. He brought Tavares Jackson to the playoffs in his third year. Once Brett Favre went to the Vikings, the team made it to the conference title and was driving for the game-winning score before Brett Favre made a terrible mistake throwing an ill-timed interception. Still, his work in Minnesota was very underrated.
The Bad:
(Leslie Frazier, Pat Shurmer, Todd Bowles) Combined Record: (66-120) Not every branch has fruit on it. Frazier, being the more successful of the four here, got Adrian Peterson to win an MVP trophy. Other than that though, not much to look forward to from these four. Bowles didn’t really get a fair shot because of how bad the Jets were. Regardless, not good.
Combined, Andy Reid’s coaching tree is (382-353) with a combined six conference championship game appearances, two Super Bowls wins with a third appearance.
Andy Reid has a chance to do something that many of his former assistants have already done- win a Super Bowl. While Reid’s past playoff experiences may count against him, a chance to enter the ranks of the almighty coaches in NFL history, the assistants will now look up to the master.
Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
