Reid-ing ahead

The Chiefs made the hire of the offseason when they acquired Andy Reid, but the hire will affect so much more than just the coaching. This hire of such a great coach has moved the franchise in a new direction, resulting in the departure of Scott Pioli and the hiring of new personnel, such as Bob Sutton, Doug Pederson, and Matt Nagy, and the likely hiring of Brad Childress. In this post we will take a look at some of the new members of the coaching staff, and how they will impact the team in the upcoming season.

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Andy Reid: The big prize of free agency was Andy Reid. The man has a ridiculous resume, and it was quite shocking to many when he came to Kansas City.  In fact, it had already been reported that there was a ninety-five percent chance that Reid would take the job in Arizona, when Clark Hunt flew to Philadelphia and met with Reid for a meeting that lasted nine hours. The rest is history, as the Chiefs landed their coach, and may have just brought the franchise back to contention in the AFC West. Reid has a career record of 140-102-1 (10-9 in the playoffs), which is absolutely spectacular, but even more impressive, he only had two losing seasons in his twelve years in Philadelphia. Nine times the Eagles made the playoffs, and they reached five NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl. The Eagles won a playoff game in seven different years under Reid, which the Chiefs have not done since January 16, 1994. That makes nearly twenty years without a playoff win, and to add some perspective to that number, Joe Montana was the starting quarterback and Mitch Holthus had not yet called a game for the Chiefs. Reid has brought in some spectacular coaches along with him.

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Brad Childress: Childress will likely be added as an offensive consultant this year, rather than as the offensive coordinator. Childress has had a solid career up to this point, that includes marks such as multiple NFC Championships and a Super Bowl appearance. Childress has a career record as a head coach as 40-37, which includes three playoff games. Childress, along with Andy Reid, has been credited with developing Donovan McNabb, who made five Pro-Bowl appearances under his coaching. He will be integral in the process of finding a new quarterback this year. Furthermore, once the Chiefs sign or draft a quarterback, Childress will have a big role in working with him and helping to find plays to fit his abilities.

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Doug Pederson: Pederson has been hired as the new offensive coordinator for the Chiefs, and he will likely work closely with Brad Childress to return Kansas City to a top offensive team. Pederson has a lot of experience with quarterbacks, considering that he was one, and that he played alongside Brett Favre for most of his career. Since then he has spent time as the offensive quality control coach and quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles with Andy Reid. You should start to notice a theme here. Not only have a couple of these men served with Andy Reid, but both have experience with quarterbacks. Considering that the NFL has become much more pass oriented, with new rules in place to protect the quarterback and wide receivers, it appears that the best way to guarantee success is through the passing game, which is why Pederson will be right at home in Kansas City.

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Matt Nagy: The new QB coach in Kansas City is Nagy, who is somewhat of an Arena Football legend. Nagy had nearly 20,000 passing yards in his career, and threw for 374 touchdowns to only fifty-five interceptions. Nagy spent his coaching time with Andy Reid in Philadelphia, like Pederson and Childress, but his path was a little different. After the Eagles were unable to nab Nagy as a backup quarterback for Kevin Kolb, they pursued and managed to sign him as a coaching assistant, and soon after, he filled the role of the recently promoted Doug Pederson, becoming the offensive quality control coach. Nagy was a very smart quarterback, and should fit perfectly as the quarterbacks coach in Kansas City.

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Bob Sutton: Sutton has spent the past twelve years as an assistant for the New York Jets, and most recently he was the assistant head coach and linebackers coach. Sutton has had a lengthy career; perhaps his greatest accomplishment was winning coach of the year in college, when he coached Army to a 10-2 record and a bowl game. Sutton has spent time in just about every role available, and that experience will prove invaluable as he takes over a defensive unit that has three Pro-Bowlers (possibly up to four or five depending on who makes the Superbowl), and plenty of young, fresh talent. Sutton will likely move the Chiefs to a 4-3 defense, which should only improve the ability of the Chiefs to stop opposing teams.

Many of the new coaches were part of the team that developed Donovan McNabb, and combined with the fact that they all have great experience, fans should have reason to hope. No one thinks the turnaround is going to come overnight, but if the Chiefs could manage to sign or draft a solid quarterback, they could be set for years and years to come.