Over the course of his career, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has gotten praised for the job he does on the field. The future Hall of Fame man is put on a pedestal thanks to his schematics and football mind, and rightfully so.
While Reid is still going strong and is helping power Kansas City to deep playoff runs and championships, many are beginning to give him his flowers for the other things that make him great. The month of January has already seen that take place, and it's still happening as Sunday's AFC championship game approaches.
This time, it's coming from the top of the organization. In a recent appearance on "Good Morning Football," Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt discussed Reid winning the 101 Award for AFC Coach of the Year and opened up about one of his most consistent employees. Hunt acknowledges that while Reid is obviously great at what he does on game day, it's how he treats and relates to others that makes the ultimate difference.
"Andy's such a special person," Hunt said. "Obviously, he's an incredible coach, but I think the thing that people don't really know about Andy is the relationships he has with all of his players [and] all of his coaching staff. If you talk to any of them, they would tell you, 'Hey, Andy knows me as a person.' I think that's really a lot of his secret to his success – he has these personal relationships with the players. He'll also hold them accountable when he needs to, but the players accept it because they know he cares about them as a person."
This wasn't the first instance of someone making that kind of point, and it surely won't be the last. In fact, following Reid's 300th career win last Saturday , quarterback Patrick Mahomes echoed a similar sentiment.
"He's just a great person," Mahomes said. "More than a great coach, he's just a great person, and guys want to play for a guy like that. He's been so instrumental in making me who I am. I owe him a lot – pretty much all – of my success. I told him we need to get to 302, though, for this year and then we worry about next year."
Whether it's Hunt or Mahomes tipping their respective caps to Reid for his personable nature and overall ability to accept anyone, or even tight end Travis Kelce clearing the air up after a heated moment in Super Bowl LVIII, no one denies Reid as the consummate player's coach. Although he can be tough at times, it's always with the betterment of his players as people and athletes in mind.
That's what allows him to stand out in more ways than one, as Hunt expanded on this week.
