Andy Reid has been the head coach in the NFL for 26 years. When he retires, he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and is on the cusp of his fourth Super Bowl championship. The man has seen and done it all. In that time, he has matched wits with tons of different play-callers, offensively and defensively. He was asked during one of his pressers this week who his favorites were. Former Chicago Bears and current Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was one. Fellow future Hall of Fame head coach Bill Belichick is another. The third name mentioned was a familiar one for Bears fans: Ben Johnson.
That’s right. It seems Reid has been an admirer of his for quite some time. It peaked this past year when Johnson helped the Detroit Lions to a 15-2 record. From somebody considered one of the great geniuses in NFL history, that is the highest praise you can get.
Reid has first-hand experience watching Johnson work. On opening night of the 2023 season, Detroit went into Kansas City. The Lions piled up 368 yards of offense and 21 points, including the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. To do that in Arrowhead Stadium against a Steve Spagnuolo-coached defense is not easy.
Andy Reid knows a thing or two about good coaches.
He has personally developed and mentored several future head coaches. John Harbaugh and Doug Pederson both went on to become Super Bowl champions. Ron Rivera reached a Super Bowl with Carolina. Doug McDermott has found sustained success for years in Buffalo. Reid knows what good coaches look like. For him to single out Johnson, totally unprompted, is the latest sign that Chicago may have finally gotten it right. No Sean McVay. No Kyle Shanahan. It was their guy for once.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
One has to think Andy Reid feels a connection to Johnson. Both came from obscurity somewhat. Reid was a no-name college offensive line coach when the Green Bay Packers came calling in 1992. Johnson was a lowly assistant in Miami before Detroit brought him in as an afterthought in 2019. Three years later, he was guiding their offense to the NFL mountaintop. Now, like Reid in Philadelphia, he has a chance to show everybody he can be the next big thing.
Thank you for the direct extra validation, Andy, but I really do not need it.
Besides coaches in the NFL, there are people in all walks of life who have their heads screwed on right, and those who don’t. It is a free world, and everyone can do whatever they want, the way they want, and how they want . . . but once we make the decision to step into the same world as everyone else, our industries, our businesses, our teams, we’d better understand what the differences are, between our fantasies and reality. We all want to be Super Bowl winning coaches. Andy Reid has succeeded. But Andy Reid’s approach is different from… Read more »
@citizen34 —
Andy needs the money.
Cheeseburgers and “nuggies” don’t grow on trees!
TGena, we did see how Belichick did coaching without Brady and it was not good! I do think Andy having Spagnuola back has obviously gotten their D to be top 5. I, for one, am soooo tired of the State Farm commercials. Andy is making $20M per year; why does he need to do those goofy-ass commercials??
Andy Reid looks so much smarter coaching Patrick Mahomes than he ever did coaching Donovan McNabb.
And, just think what might have been if Dolphins coach Don Shula had ever thought to say: “Bundle-A-Rooskie-Do!”