NFL Head coache, Nuggets coach, and the Kansas City Chiefs agreed to enhance the sum.
On Wednesday, Pro Football Focus released their ranking of the 2024 NFL head coaches, and yes, Andy Read of the Kansas City Chiefs tops the list produced by PFF’s Gordon McGuinness. Reid is followed by the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan and the Ravens’ John Harbaugh. 1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs.
The combination of Reid and Patrick Mahomes has been a secret weapon for the Kansas City Chiefs, resulting in four Super Bowl appearances and three Super Bowl triumphs. On offense, they have consistently been in the top five in EPA per play from 2018 to 2022, even before Mahomes arrived. They fell to 12th last season, but with some substantial improvements at the wide receiver position, expect them to be back inside the top five again in 2024.We’ve been reporting on PFF’s position group rankings for the past few weeks. The Chiefs have been near the top of a few of them — Mahomes, for example, was ranked first among quarterbacks — but Kansas City’s position groups have mostly been placed near average. McGuinness refers to Reid (together with Mahomes) as the “cheat code” that has resulted in the team’s recent success. That explains why the Chiefs have been able to accomplish more with less. However, there are further considerations to consider. In recent years, it’s grown fashionable to dismiss the work of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo (and especially that of special teams coordinator Dave Toub) as redundant during the Age of Mahomes – but as we discovered in 2023, it’s often difficult to anticipate when the other phases of the game will become increasingly significant.
So Reid deserves credit for his own teaching — as well as his ability to identify (and, perhaps more significantly, retain) great assistant coaches while in Kansas City.