‘I enjoy the football—the game. You can’t put in the hours that we do and not enjoy it. So, I really love the game,’ Reid said.
Many Kansas City Chiefs are already dreaming about a four-peat before they’ve even notched an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat, based on comments made Tuesday before Super Bowl LIX.
That’s because Andy Reid, the AFC West Division Champs’ head coach, revealed his plans for the 2025 NFL season, and those plans don’t involve sitting on a beach or playing 18 holes of golf a day.
When asked his motivation for wanting to keep coming to work every day, Reid, who turns 67 next month, confirmed that he’s not going anywhere and plans on returning as the team’s head coach next season.
“I enjoy teaching. I don’t get caught up too much in the stats and all of that and the records. But I enjoy being around the guys.” Reid
said during a Super Bowl 59 media session. “I enjoy the football—the game. You can’t put in the hours that we do and not enjoy it. So, I really love the game.'’
In a follow-up question, Reid was asked to confirm that he’ll return next season.
“Yes, I’ll be back. I’m glad [chairman Clark Hunt] is gonna have me back,” he said with a laugh.
Reid was the oldest NFL head coach this season, and he will be the second-oldest next season, now that the 73-year-old Pete Carroll was named coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Reid is the longest-tenured head coach, having been employed since 1999. He spent the first 14 years as the coach of his upcoming Super Bowl opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, and next year will be his 13th year as Kansas City’s coach.
Reid first joined the NFL in 1992 as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers, with whom he worked for seven seasons before heading to Philadelphia. Overall, Reid’s coaching career dates back to 1982, and he has been employed nonstop since then. He spent a decade as an assistant coach at various college levels before heading to Green Bay in 1992.
Reid certainly has incentives to continue coaching next season and beyond. When Super Bowl 59 kicks off on Sunday, it will be Reid’s 45th postseason game, moving him out of a tie for the most in NFL history for a head coach, alongside Bill Belichick. Reid also enters Super Bowl Sunday with 28 postseason victories, meaning he could surpass Belichick’s all-time record of 31 coaching playoff wins next year.
The three-time Super Bowl-winning coach also has motivation to stay beyond 2025 as he’s rising up the all-time regular-season wins list. He’s 27 victories away from becoming the fourth coach to reach 300 regular-season wins. Additionally, he’s 47 regular-plus postseason victories away from surpassing Don Shula for the most regular-season and playoff wins combined in NFL history. The Chiefs have won 49 total games since the start of the 2022 NFL season, with a potential 50th coming on Sunday.
It was in April 2024 that Reid, along with general manager Brett Veach and team president Mark Donovan, all agreed to contract extensions. Reid’s deal runs through 2029, when he will be 71 years old. But at his advanced age, it’s more of a year-by-year basis on whether or not he wants to continue coaching. Given the success of his team, you can see why the desire to continue coaching is greater than the desire to step away.
One person who has never doubted Reid’s return in 2025 is the Chiefs’ co-owner and CEO Hunt. He also mentioned the team’s dynastic run as a big reason why Reid has no plans of stepping away anytime soon.
“I was always surprised when I heard those [retirement] rumors because I know how much fun Andy’s having. He, in a lot of ways, is rejuvenated by the success the team’s had. Certainly, he’s matched with the quarterback that’s the perfect complement for him in Patrick [Mahomes], and I know he loves what he’s doing,” Hunt
said on Monday.
“I’m glad we haven’t heard any of those rumors this year. I know for a fact that he’s going to be back next year.”
Now that Reid’s return is assured, many in Chiefs Kingdom are turning their attention to another key cog in their recent success in tight end, Travis Kelce, who is 35 years old. The 40-year-old Marcedes Lewis of the Chicago Bears was the only running back, wide receiver, or tight end older than Kelce this past season. However, even with his age, and multiple opportunities outside of football, Kelce indicated that he not only wants to play next year but also wants to still be playing three years from now.
During the Super Bowl media festivities on Monday, Kelce was asked where he saw himself three years from now.
“Hopefully still playing football,” Kelce
replied. “I love doing this; I love coming to work every day. I feel like I still have a lot of good football left in me. We'll see what happens. I know I’ve been setting myself up for other opportunities in my life. That’s always been the goal, knowing football only lasts for so long. You have to find a way to get into another career and another profession. I’ve been doing that in my offseason. But for the most part, I plan on being a Kansas City Chief and playing football.”
