Andy Reid

Andy Reid

This article is about the American football coach. For the football (soccer) player, see Andy Reid (footballer).

Andrew Walter "Andy" Reid (born March 19, 1958) is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. He led the Eagles to four NFC championship game appearances, from 2001-2004 and to Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004.

Early years

Born in Los Angeles, California, Reid attended John Marshall High School and worked as a vendor at Dodger Stadium as a teenager. He also played youth sports in Los Angeles, and among his coaches were Pete Arbogast, who is the radio announcer for the USC football team. Reid played offensive guard and tackle at Brigham Young University for head coach LaVell Edwards.

Early coaching career

After graduating from BYU in 1981, he spent one year employed as a graduate assistant on the school's football coaching staff. He spent the next nine years as an offensive line coach with four different colleges before being hired as an assistant coach by the Green Bay Packers in 1992, the same year quarterback Brett Favre became a member of that team (Reid was named the Packers' quarterbacks coach in 1997, the season after the Packers won the Super Bowl (XXXI)).

Philadelphia Eagles coach

The quality of Reid's work with the Packers attracted considerable notice throughout the league, leading to his being hired as the head coach of the Eagles on January 11, 1999. At the time, many in the local media in Philadelphia criticized the hiring, citing the availability of other candidates who had past records of success as head coaches. The Eagles, under former coach Ray Rhodes, finished in a three-way tie for the NFL's worst record at 3-13 the season before he took over. They improved two games in 1999 to finish at 5-11 (including the team's first road victory in 19 games, a 20-16 win over the Bears at Chicago on October 17, which was the first time the Philadelphia franchise had won an away game over the Bears since 1933). In 2000, the Eagles reached the playoffs after posting an 11-5 regular-season record.

Time in Philadelphia

Beginning in 2001, Reid's Eagles won the National Football Conference's Eastern Division four consecutive times, the longest such streak in franchise history, and advanced to the conference championship game in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, losing this game on the first three occasions. The 2003 team became the first in NFL history ever to qualify for postseason play after opening the season with two losses, both at home, in a non-strike year, and was also the first NFL team ever to reach the conference title round of the playoffs after having been shut out at home on opening day. The 2004 team was the second NFC East squad to defeat all of its division rivals (New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Redskins) twice during the same regular season (Dallas Cowboys did it in 1998). The Eagles made it to Super Bowl XXXIX but fell to the New England Patriots 24-21 in the final minutes.

During his tenure, Reid, 50, compiled the best win total (96), winning percentage (.608) and playoff victory total (8) in team history. He has captured five division titles and four trips to the NFC Championship game. Since he was hired in 1999, no other franchise has earned more divisional playoff round appearances (6) and only Bill Belichick's New England Patriots have advanced to more conference championship game appearances (5) than Philadelphia (with 4). Since 1999, Reid has also sent 19 players to 44 Pro-Bowl appearances, the highest total for any team in the NFL during that period. None of these players had ever appeared in a Pro-Bowl before Reid was hired.

Among coaches with 100 games under their belt, Reid’s .608 winning percentage is 11th in NFL history and third among active coaches behind Indianapolis’ Tony Dungy (.637) and Bill Belichick's (.627).

Reid’s nine-year tenure at the Eagles helm has put him in an elite category as well. Since 1990, only six of the 73 first-time head coaches remained with their original team for eight-or-more years: Reid (since 1999), Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher (since 1994), Brian Billick (1999-2007 with Baltimore), Bill Cowher (1992-2006 with Pittsburgh), Dennis Green (1992-2001 with Minnesota) and Tom Coughlin (1995-02 with Jacksonville).

An off year, the next year redeemed

The 2005 season was a difficult one for Reid, as he was unprepared to deal with wide receiver Terrell Owens's flamboyant persona, which led Reid to permanently deactivate him midway through the season. A couple of weeks later, quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered a season ending injury, leaving the Eagles without the services of both of their star players. The Eagles lost eight of their last ten games and finished 6-10.

The Eagles enjoyed a rollercoaster campaign under Reid in 2006. The season appeared to be lost by October with another season-ending injury to McNabb, turning a 4-1 start into a mid-season breakdown which left the team 5-5. After an embarrassing 45-21 defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, the Eagles were on the verge of elimination from the playoffs. Reid coached backup quarterback Jeff Garcia and the 5-6 Eagles to rousing victories over NFC rivals: the Carolina Panthers, the Washington Redskins, the New York Giants, and the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles, at 10-6, won the NFC East division title, as well as an NFC Wild Card game against the New York Giants, before falling to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Divisional Round.

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
PHI	1999	5	11	0	.313	5th in NFC East	-	-	-	-
PHI	2000	11	5	0	.688	2nd in NFC East	1	1	.500	Lost to New York Giants in NFC Divisional Game.
PHI	2001	11	5	0	.688	1st in NFC East	2	1	.667	Lost to St. Louis Rams in NFC Championship Game.
PHI	2002	12	4	0	.750	1st in NFC East	1	1	.500	Lost to Tampa Bay Buccaneers in NFC Championship Game.
PHI	2003	12	4	0	.750	1st in NFC East	1	1	.500	Lost to Carolina Panthers in NFC Championship Game.
PHI	2004	13	3	0	.813	1st in NFC East	2	1	.667	Lost to New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.
PHI	2005	6	10	0	.375	4th in NFC East	-	-	-	-
PHI	2006	10	6	0	.625	1st in NFC East	1	1	.500	Lost to New Orleans Saints in NFC Divisional Game.
PHI	2007	8	8	0	.500	4th in NFC East	-	-	-	-
PHI	2008	9	6	1	.594	2nd in NFC East	-	-	-	-
PHI Total		97	62	1	.609		8	6	.571
Total		97	62	1	.609		8	6	.571

Personal

Reid is married with his wife Tammy, whom he met in a physical education class at BYU. They have five children, each of whom was born in a different state. Sons: Garrett, Britt, and Spencer. Daughters: Crosby and Drew Ann.

Eternal Links

• Philadelphia Eagles Bio