If the coaching profession had a poster boy for how successful offensive line coaches can turn into great head coaches, Andy Reid would be the logical top choice.
The three-time Super Bowl champion who has won more than 65% of his games as an NFL head coach spent the first nearly 15 years of his career coaching the offensive line before Mike Holmgren gave him the opportunity to grow outside of the position as the team's quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach in 1997.
He spent just two seasons in that role before being plucked as the Eagles head coach in 1999. Reid would spend 14 seasons in Philly, going 130-93 before parting ways with the organization after a 4-12 campaign in 2012.
Reid would land in Kansas City as the Chiefs new head coach the next season, and the move took his career to the next level, as the Chiefs have won double-digit games every season since his arrival all but once (a 9-win campaign in 2014), punching their ticket to the Super Bowl four times, winning three of them.
A coaching favorite during the annual C.O.O.L Clinic, Reid's presentation this year included a section on "WHY OL COACHES MAKE GREAT HEAD COACHES," and Reid lays out the key reasons that include:
- Can reach the core of men while getting them to reach their potential
- Know how to listen - big ears, observing eyes, and small voice until needed
- Know that working together leads to success (need to be effective 90% of the time - working toward 100%) and know how to build it
- Know the QB position better than anyone - What makes them tick. Get a good sense of who is special at that position
- Don't expect or need compliments
- In our own world - others don't understand it and underestimate how hard the job is
- The GRIND - We understand toughness
- We know repetition is crucial - repeat it daily.
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