Adaptability has been crucial to Reid’s success with Chiefs. It’s serving him well now
A prevailing public image of Andy Reid is that of devout creature of habit, which also happens to be the coin of the realm in a profession dominated by what might be termed control freaks.
So, as animated and warm and kind as Reid is in real life, the Chiefs coach typically exhibits a poker face for the chess match that is the NFL … the better to clasp information tight.
He’ll tend to defend players at fault, cling to time-honored travel schedules and policies and thrive on other rote patterns most visibly encapsulated in his dealing with the media.
Reid typically starts briefings with injury updates … and by declaring the challenges the Chiefs look forward to. Then he’ll call for questions by saying “time’s yours” … and then fend off questions he doesn’t want to elaborate on by saying “we’ll get that to you.”
To be sure, the virtues of consistency in his platforms and how he deals with players is a core part of his becoming one of the winningest coaches in NFL history, one now with a Super Bowl championship on a resume suitable for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But it’s superficial to think that aspect of him defines him.
Because what truly has distinguished Reid is imagination and adaptability, traits serving him well now ... and likely to sustain him in the months ahead as the NFL grapples with the still-unfurling uncertainties created by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
As Reid on Thursday considered the current scene and all the vagueness and adjustments being made now and ahead, he alluded to his first full-time coaching job in the mid-1980s as an assistant coach at San Francisco State — a Division II non-scholarship program that is now defunct.
“Everything wasn’t easy there,” Reid said during a teleconference from the basement of his Kansas City home. “I mean, to film practice we had to have a guy climb up on a ladder … We had to have the players pick up rocks on the dirt field so we could actually practice.
“So those experiences help me at times like this … when everything’s not quite perfect, to make it work.”
First and foremost, it bears mention that a man who has turned to football through the darkest of times in his life knows that making “it work” is about something a lot more fundamental than the game right now.
“My heart goes out to everybody that’s suffered from this son of a gun … I know it’s a crazy time right now,” said Reid, whose mother, Elizabeth, was a radiologist. “And all the front line people who are out there kicking butt working on this thing, we just appreciate everything.”
Still, the NFL Draft remains scheduled for later this month, whatever form and format it may take.
And offseason workouts loom, such as they might be with physical NFL offices and facilities shut down.
And there’s the broader matter of staying connected and tuned in and proceeding with the notion of a season ahead … and, at long last, a Super Bowl to defend that was celebrated only an endless few weeks ago.
“That energy, we’ll never forget that …,” Reid said, adding, “Listen, we’re all proud of the accomplishment that took place this past year. We also know that we’ve got to get ready for the challenge of this upcoming season … We’re fired up about that.”
Even if it means having several sets of plans in place, including virtual workouts, for various stages ahead. Even if it means embracing new virtual concepts such as Zoom and WebEx for staff meetings and interviews with prospective draftees or free agents.
“It’s interesting for old guys like me; learning all this new technology’s pretty good,” said Reid, who turned 62 years old last month. “The young guys, they just whip right through it.
“But us old guys, we have to learn everything.”
In fact, that notion is at the very heart of the ever-evolving Reid, a man of many talents who perhaps best expresses his relentless passion for artistry in his play designs.
Among a number of other ways that his agile mind led him to the pinnacle of his profession … with room to grow yet.
In fact, this part of the journey is pure testament to that.
Consider that when he was coaching the Eagles from 1999-2012, Reid also was the de facto general manager for about five years. While he would seem to have more voice in personnel matters than he likes to say he does now, it’s also clear he has been happy to surrender those demands here to John Dorsey initially and Brett Veach now.
Asked about such personnel matters as the contractual statuses of Chris Jones and Sammy Watkins during the call, Reid said, “Listen I try to stay as far away from it as I can, to be honest with you. I dealt with all of that in Philadelphia.”
Meanwhile, Reid’s capacity for growth is enhanced by stayed open-minded and placing trust in the people he works with. Veach makes for a fine case in point, perhaps epitomized in how he implored Reid over and over and over again to check out this Mahomes kid and helped get Reid all in.
That trust, and Reid’s willingness to change, also showed up in the utter overhaul of the defense engineered by Veach after the previous season ... an enterprise that had to be initiated by Reid’s willingness to fire Bob Sutton, something he struggled to do and may have prospered by doing sooner, and bring in old friend Steve Spagnuolo.
But maybe it’s most useful to point to the last postseason itself.
The montage of remarkable comebacks was enabled by a fusion of what makes Reid special: his ability to simultaneously inspire calm and faith in the face of chaos, reflecting a certain aura of control, and have the nerve and creativity to put in motion remarkable reactions to situations on the verge of being out of his sphere of influence.
How all this will apply in the months to come is a matter of conjecture.
But the synergy of those two elements of Reid figures to be an advantage for the Chiefs in a period when success will hinge as much or more on being nimble as being steady ... another facet of a man who is so much more than even the considerable one he appears to be.
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.