Former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci expects Chiefs to come out fast in Super Bowl LIV
The bond between Chiefs coach Andy Reid and former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci is clear to see when they are together on camera.
Mariucci is now with the NFL Network and when he chats on-air with Reid, it seems like friends of more than a quarter century catching up rather than the usual interview.
A lot of good-natured bantering goes on.
Mariucci is in Miami for Super Bowl LIV and recalled just such a conversation with Reid. The Chiefs have fallen into double-digit deficits in their two playoff games and Mariucci kiddingly offered his help ahead of Sunday’s game against the 49ers.
“I asked Andy ... do you want me to help you with your first 15 (plays)? He goes, ‘Nope,’” Mariucci said with a chuckle. “I think he’s gonna come out fast this time.”
Mariucci added he wouldn’t be surprised if Reid designed a new play just for the Super Bowl to aid with a quick start.
That would be in character for Reid, who joined Mike Holmgren’s staff in Green Bay at the same time as Mariucci in 1992. They both learned the Packers’ West Coast offense together, but Mariucci said Reid has made it his own.
“He’s like the mad scientist,” Mariucci said. “He doesn’t sleep, you know, I mean he’s one of those workaholics, and he likes to doodle, and he likes to be creative. And he’s got the guys to do it with, right? And he’s got a quarterback that can handle all of it. He could put it in a whole new language (in the offense) tomorrow night and (quarterback Patrick) Mahomes would get it. So he’s having a lot of fun.”
Fun is a good word to describe the relationship between the two. Mariucci talked Thursday for 30 minutes as part of the NFL Network’s Media Day, and he could have filled the entire time with stories of his friendship with Reid.
But his s favorite tale is after they both started with the Packers and their families had yet to arrive in Wisconsin.
“Andy and I went out to eat every night. And Hometown Buffet, you get in there for nine bucks. All you can eat. They hated to see us come in, especially him. But one time we went to this steak place called the Prime Quarter,” Mariucci said.
“There are these steaks, and you cook it yourself on this giant grill. In Green Bay, man, they know how to do steaks. ... But then you get a big potato and all this other stuff. We start eating it and the (waitress) comes and says, ‘Did you know, guys, that if you eat all of that within an hour, you get your next one free and you get your picture on the wall?’ No we didn’t know that. But, Andy was like done with it anyway. He ate a 40 ounce steak, he ate his in 19 minutes and I ate mine in 30, and our pictures on the wall.”
That photo is also on Mariucci’s phone and he shared it with The Star.
As a former 49ers coach and a neutral observer on the NFL Network, Mariucci won’t be cheering for a team in Super Bowl LIV. But it’s clear he is fond of Reid.
“So he’s a dear friend and I have a biased opinion, but he’s a great coach and a great human being,” Mariucci said.
