Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid heard his critics and he's fighting back and making big changes.
Andy Reid knew the criticism was coming, and the Kansas City Chiefs knew what it was about. It comes with the territory when your team backslides significantly and goes 6-11, even if you have a Hall of Fame resume and a long track record of success.
Reid addressed the issue with Jesse Newell of The Athletic, and one comment from a poll of defensive coaches this offseason especially set him off. A defensive coordinator said he believed the Chiefs offense had gotten “a litle predictable” before he followed up by saying, ““I don’t necessarily have the same ‘I’m staying up all night’ feel with him.”
Reid’s reaction showed off his competitive side, which he often keeps under wraps with the media.
“It fired me up that we didn’t do well, and I’m not good with that,” Reid said. “I don’t like to lose, and I don’t like to not be productive. That’s not how I roll. I want to make sure that gets changed around.”
Sure enough, Reid has made changes. The biggest was bringing in free agent running back Kenneth Walker III, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes is spending a lot more time under center in training camp.
Reid is also working the screen game more, which is another big change for Walker. He’s not perceived as being a good receiver, but so far it looks like the Kansas City coach is going to challenge that perception.
All of this looks shiny and new in training camp, but Reid actually started the process after Kansas City’s loss in the season finale back in January. Chiefs president Mark Donovan has said the conversations to change things started on the plane Reid home, and Reid agreed with that.
“I knew what needed to be done, so I started just going about it then,” he explained. “I’m not gonna say your mind wasn’t churning before that (flight), but you want to correct the wrong that took place. That’s how we went about the offseason. That last game wasn’t pretty football.”
Another change was play execution, which the coach said he “didn’t think was at a high standard with what we had going, what we expect.” He went back and evaluated the offensive scheme, and so far he likes the offseason approach.
“You can go back, and you can really analyze and hopefully make the changes you think need to be made. It’ll give you a chance to get on with this,” Reid said. “I love the attitude, the way the guys approached the offseason.”
