Andy Reid had had a spectacular coaching career. Everywhere he has coached he has had success.  Reid started as a graduate assistant at BYU in 1982.His first NFL job was in 1992 with the Green Bay Packers.  Since that time Reid has positioned himself as one of the top coaches in the NFL.  He helped turn the Packers into an offensive power house in the late 90’s.  Turning that experience into head coaching jobs.

First with the Eagles and now with the Chiefs.  Andy Reid had an incredible run with the Eagles.  From 1999 to 2012 he compiled a record of 130 – 93 – 1.  Taking the Eagles to 5 NFC championship games and one Super Bowl.  Reid has been with the Chiefs since the 2013 season.  Compiling a 77 – 35 record and two AFC championship games.  Winning the one this year to propel the Chiefs to the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers.

The question is does Andy Reid need to win a Super Bowl to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?  I would say that he has had a career that has made a difference and even if this is his last year coaching the the Chiefs lose this game.  Yes he has done enough to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I have heard arguments for and those against.  The ones against say that with out winning a Super Bowl then you are not a Hall of Fame coach.  I am not so sure that a Super Bowl win should be one of the criteria for keeping some one out of the Hall.

Coaches in the Hall of Fame that have not won a Super Bowl

There are a few coaches in the Hall that Have not won an NFL  championship  a Super Bowl.

George Allen – Coached in one Super bowl.  Unfortunately it was against the 1972 Dolphins.  He compiled a Win-loss record in the regular season of 116–47–5. An impressive .712 win percentage.  That puts him in some rare areas as a head coach.  Not winning a Super Bowl does not take away from the impressive teams that he coached in fourteen seasons as a head coach in the NFL.  In that time he never had a losing record.

Bud Grant – Coached in four Super Bowls.  All Four of those were loses.  Any of them could have been a win.  It was just the way things went.  Grant has a fantastic coaching career in the Canadian Football League winning four Grey Cups.  Grant compiled an impressive regular season of  158-96-5 for a .621 win percentage over 18 seasons in the NFL.    Few would argue that he should not be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Marv Levy – Coached in four straight Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills.  No one else has been to four straight Super Bowls.  An impressive feat even though only one of those Super Bowls was close.  In eight of 12 seasons with the Bills he took them to the playoffs.  His Buffalo record was 112 and 70 for a win percentage of .615.  Levy was universally respected.  Like Grant he got his pro coaching start in the CFL and he won two Grey Cups.

All of these coaches had impressive runs in the NFL.  Reid is in the same category as they are.

Andy Reid Should Make the Hall of Fame

Reid has now taken two teams to the Super Bowl.  His Regular season record of 207–128–1 for a win percentage of .618 is very impressive. He took the Eagle to the playoffs in 9 of the 14 seasons he coached the Eagles.  So far with the Chiefs he has only missed the playoffs once in his 7 seasons.  That was his second season and the Chiefs still went 9 – 7.  It is also the only season the Chiefs have not had double digit wins with Reid as head coach.

In his 21 Seasons his teams have only missed the playoffs 6 times.  In a league where the playoff turn over is extremely high that is pretty amazing.  Some would say that he has had plenty of opportunity to win the Super Bowl and has just not been able to get it done.  I get that but it is a really myopic way to look at things.  The Hall of Fame is about more than winning Super Bowls.  It is about what a person has done in the whole of their career.  I agree that longevity is not a lone criteria for getting in.  But it can be looked at in the same way as winning a Super Bowl.  If you are not successful you are not getting to coach for 21 years.

Not only has Reid been a successful coach in the league he has left a long legacy of coaches that have trained under him.  Ten of Reid’s assistants have gone on to be head coaches in the NFL. Two of those coaches. John Harbaugh and Doug Pederson have been able to win Super Bowls.  He is training them they are moving on and even with that kind of coaching turn over Reid is still able to put a winning team out almost every year.

If the Chiefs win the Super Bowl this weekend then there is going to be no debate.  Reid will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  If they end up losing this game and they don’t make it back.  I would still say that Reid has had a coaching career that should put him in.  He has had an impressive run that part can not be disputed.

What do you think?  Should Andy Reid be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

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