KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid remembers his time in Philadelphia like it was yesterday.
“Fourteen years there, a long time,” Reid said in an exclusive interview with KSHB 41 News. “Fond memories there.”
Reid’s time as head coach of the Eagles remains highly successful despite never achieving the ultimate goal, a Super Bowl victory while in the midnight green.
Hired after serving as the quarterbacks coach for Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers, Reid stepped into what appeared to be an impossible situation in 1999.
Philly finished 3-13 the year before, its worst record since 1972.
The offense ranked last in scoring at 10.1 points per game and had three different quarterbacks start games that season, including Bobby Hoying.
Jeffrey Lurie was still somewhat new to NFL ownership after buying the team five years earlier, but Eagles fans were starting to question the direction of the franchise.
Together, Reid and Lurie turned things around, reaching the postseason in Reid's second season.
By the sixth year, he turned the Eagles into a Super Bowl threat, reaching four consecutive NFC Championships games and winning the conference championship to reach the Super Bowl in 2004.
During Reid’s time in the City of Brotherly Love, he took the Eagles to the playoffs nine times, won six NFC East titles, coached in five NFC Championship Games and reached Super Bowl XXXIX — a loss to New England.
Reid coached many NFL greats in Philadelphia — including Donovan McNabb, Terrell Owens, Brian Westbrook, Brian Dawkins, Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Asante Samuel and others.
Now, Reid, who is in his 10th season in Kansas City, faces a challenge only four other coaches have experienced in Super Bowl history — coaching against their former franchise.
Only Jon Gruden, Pete Carroll, Weeb Eubank and Dan Reeves have been in the shoes Reid will find himself in Sunday when the Chiefs battle the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Despite the history, including his firing in 2013, Reid doesn’t see this matchup as an opportunity to get revenge on Philadelphia.
“I love Jeffrey Lurie, how he runs his organization,” Reid said. “(General Manager) Howie Roseman does a great job. Lots of friends there. I still have some green in my wardrobe.”
He still loves Philly cheesesteaks, too.
"I still haven't met one I didn't like," Reid said. "They're all good. You have Pat's (King of Steaks) and Geno's (Steaks) right together. Competition brings out the best in them. I could just walk back and forth and do four or five of them right there."
While Reid harbors no hard feelings, he knows that he has a job to do on Sunday — win Kansas City's third Lombardi Trophy and second since he took over the Chiefs.
“Once you get into this thing, it’s your football team against theirs,” Reid said. “That’s really what it comes down to and you're trying to prepare your team the best you possibly can.”
Under Reid, the Chiefs snapped a 50-year Super Bowl drought by beating San Francisco in Super Bowl LIV.
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