CEO Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs formally introduced the next Head Coach of the Chiefs, Andy Reid, who became the 13th head coach in club history.
“We are thrilled to welcome Andy to the Chiefs family,” Hunt said. “Throughout his career, Andy has established himself as one of the finest coaches in the National Football League. His integrity, knowledge of the game, work ethic and outstanding abilities as a teacher and communicator make him the ideal head coach to lead the Chiefs for many years to come.”
Reid, who coached the Philadelphia Eagles since 1999, was fired after 14 seasons, his last being a less than stellar season and along with personal tragedy, welcomed the fresh start with his new team.
“My family and I are very excited to join the Chiefs organization and the Kansas City community,” Reid said. “I want to thank the Hunt family for allowing me the opportunity to lead this storied franchise. The Chiefs have always had a passionate fan base and I’m looking forward to Sundays at Arrowhead Stadium. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ready for next season, and we are going to get started immediately.”
Reid guided the Eagles to the playoffs nine times, including four straight NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl appearance in 2004. Among active coaches, Reid ranks fifth in regular season and playoff wins, trailing only Bill Belichick (204), Mike Shanahan (175), Tom Coughlin (163) and Jeff Fisher (154). Reid has a postseason record of 10-9.
The Kansas City Chiefs have only made three playoff appearances since 2000 and have not won a playoff game since 1993 when Joe Montana brought the Chiefs back down 13-7 against the Houston Oilers to win 28-20 to put them in the AFC Championship game.
After a 2-14 season, with plenty of questions at quarterback, Reid said he’s looking to find the next Len Dawson of the franchise.
“I have looked at the roster and there are some good football players on this football team,” Reid said. “The quarterback position, I’m going to dig in and look at that and we’ll build that thing. We’ll see how that whole thing builds out. I need to spend some time working at it, though. I’ve got to find that next Len Dawson, doggone it. It might be right here, it might not.”
With Matt Cassell, Brady Quinn and Ricky Stanzi on the roster, it’s pretty safe to say a Hall of Fame Quarterback is not currently on the roster, but with the number one overall pick in the draft, that doesn’t mean that there is a potential franchise quarterback available in the draft either.
“We’ve been blessed with the No. 1 pick in the draft,” Reid said. “You want to make sure you do the right thing and pick the right guy for that. Not necessarily a quarterback — it doesn’t have to be a quarterback. It has to be the right thing. You don’t want to force anything at that point. People that do that get themselves in trouble.”
But we do know that the Chiefs, who made the playoffs in 2010, can compete in the AFC West and for the playoffs again if they can fix their situation at quarterback, something Andy Reid has had great success at in Philadelphia with Donavan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Jeff Garcia, Michael Vick and recently Nick Foles.
