Yesterday, I began my three-part series on who is better from the Patriots Dynasty and the current Chiefs Dynasty. I compared the two TEs, Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce. It was extremely close, but at the end of the day, I gave the nod to Kelce.
This article focuses on the two head coaches. Bill Belichick vs Andy Reid. For years, everyone has referred to Belichick as the GOAT, but the further we get away from him coaching Tom Brady, and now completely out of the league, Reid has been catching up…fast.
Tale of the Tape:
Let’s look at the resumes of both men. In 29 seasons as a head coach, he has a career 302-165 regular season record: a .647 winning percentage. He has a 31-13 career playoff record, which is a .705 winning percentage. Combined, he has a total of 333 wins, only behind Don Shula by 14 games. He has a record of six Super Bowl victories, regardless of what his bot says (the name of his boat is Eight Rings). And he proudly flaunted those eight rings (two DC rings from his days with the Giants) at the NFL Honors show last week.
The two biggest detractors that have plagued him are the fact that he has a losing record without Brady as his QB, 79-88, and, in his 29-year career, he had seven losing seasons. After being relieved of his duties by Robert Kraft, no other owner in the league wanted his services. Most argue that it is simply an age thing, that it’s a young man’s game.
Although that may be true, the Raiders hired Pete Carroll to be their next head coach, and he’s older than Belichick. Things got so bad for Belichick that he was banished to college football, agreeing to coach the North Carolina Tarheels.
Now, for Reid…he’s been a head coach for 26 years., three fewer than Belichick, but still counting. In those 26 seasons, he’s only had three losing seasons, and realistically, if he coaches for three more seasons, matching Belichick’s 29 years, he will most likely still only have three losing seasons.
His current regular season record of 273-146 translates to a .651 winning percentage…better than Belichick’s .647 winning percentage. Combining his 273 wins with his 28 playoff wins has put him over 300 career wins, 32 behind Belichick and 46 wins behind Shula. He could be no.1 within three seasons, or certainly within four years…if he can last that long. And while Belichick clings to his eight-ring status, Reid has three SBs as Kansas City’s head coach and has an OC SB under his belt, in 1996 with the Packers.
And, unlike Belichick’s lack of success with anyone other than someone named Brady, Reid has seemingly won with every QB he’s ever coached…from Randall Cunningham to Michael Vick and Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes.
FINAL VERDICT:
Similar to the Gronkowski/Kelce debate, I have to give this nod to Reid. Not only are the two men extremely close based on the numbers, but there is still time for Reid to continue to close the gap and surpass Belichick. And aside from the W-L numbers and overall championships, the intangibles favor Reid, too. His players, almost to a man, love Reid. That can certainly not be said about Belichick. Each man’s approach is so different, but their teams respect each.
But fear has a shelf life, and Belichick used up all of his with the Patriots. And if there is a final tiebreaker between the two men, Belichick micromanaging Brady out of Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. and into the waiting arms of Tampa Bay is the final straw to tip the scales for Reid. My prediction is that Reid will never drive Mahomes to the point of wanting to leave Kansas City. When the smoke clears, Reid will be the winningest head coach of all time and should already be considered the GOAT.
REID > BELICHICK
