KC Chiefs’ Andy Reid is on verge of tying an NFL legend in coaching victories
Saturday marks exactly 100 years since the Packers beat the Evansville Crimson Giants 43-6, giving Green Bay coach Curly Lambeau his second career victory.
Lambeau was also a player for the Packers at that time, but he focused fully on coaching starting in 1930. The Packers won the second of three straight NFL titles that season, they would eventually win six championships under Lambeau.
After 29 seasons coaching the Packers, Lambeau left for Chicago and coached the Cardinals for two seasons and then Washington for two more. When his coaching days ended after the 1953 season, Lambeau had a 226-132-22 record.
All but 17 of those wins came with the Packers, who renamed Green Bay City Stadium in Lambeau’s honor following his death in 1965.
Lambeau, who founded the Packers franchise, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
There are few if any names bigger than Lambeau’s in the annals of the NFL.
The reason for this history lesson isn’t because the Packers will play the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. Rather, if the Chiefs win Sunday, coach Andy Reid will get his 226th regular-season career victory, which would tie him with Lambeau.
“He founded the Packers in 1919. It’s Lambeau Field, for Pete’s sake,” Chiefs radio broadcaster Mitch Holthus said on the “Defending the Kingdom” podcast. “That list is Don Shula. It is Bill Belichick. It’s Tom Landry, George Halas. That’s the four ahead of Curly Lambeau and Andy Reid, and Andy can catch him this week with 226 wins.”
Shula had the most regular-season coaching victories in NFL history (328), followed by Halas (318), Belichick (284) and Landry (250).
One other reason why tying Lambeau by beating the Packers would be special: Reid’s first job in the NFL was as a Green Bay assistant coach. He was hired in 1992 after working as an assistant at Mizzou.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 11:47 AM.
