When you think of the Kansas City Chiefs, you think of three things — Patrick Mahomes, Super Bowl rings, and Andy Reid. There’s also a guy named Travis Kelce who throws a helmet on every week.
The first two of that trio are relatively new in the streets of Kansas City. Mahomes arrived from Texas Tech in 2017, took the reigns of the offense in 2018, and led the Chiefs to a Super Bowl victory in 2019, their first since the 1960s.
Reid, on the other hand, has been around for a bit longer in KC. He took over in ahead of the 2013 season, coinciding with the beginning of the Alex Smith era.
Over a decade since Big Red arrived, the Chiefs are now in the midst of a seven-year streak of making it to the AFC Championship Game, which has resulted in five Super Bowl berths and three championships.
Reid has solidified himself as a Hall of Famer during his time in Kansas City, but could it be coming to an end soon?
Steve Spagnuolo Replaces Andy Reid as Chiefs HC: Prediction Reaction
For one season, Reid was the NFL’s oldest head coach at 66 years of age. Pete Carroll’s (73 years old) return to the NFL caused Reid to lose this “title”, but he remains the second-oldest head coach in the league, now 67 years of age.
Reid’s getting up there in age and speculation regarding his retirement has been circling for years now. Daniel Alameda of TWSN believes that Reid will retire at the end of the 2025 NFL season, coinciding with the retirement of legendary tight end Travis Kelce.
Alameda has predicted that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will be promoted to head coach and will be responsible for ushering in a new era in Kansas City.
“If Andy Reid decides to retire following the 2024-2025 season, it’s easy to see why Steve Spagnuolo would be the natural choice to succeed him as head coach. Not only does Spagnuolo have the credentials and experience necessary to be an effective head coach, but he also has the trust of the Chiefs’ front office, players, and fanbase,” wrote Alameda.
Is Spagnuolo The Appropriate Successor to Andy Reid?
Spagnuolo has spent time as a head coach (and an interim head coach), leading the St. Louis Rams from 2009-2011. Things didn’t go particularly well; St. Louis won just 10 games in three years and Spagnuolo was canned ahead of the 2012 season.
Even though things didn’t go according to plan, his head coaching stint took place over a decade ago. Since then, Spagnuolo has proven to be an elite coordinator and would be more than capable of taking over as the Chiefs head coach.
The only concern is that it doesn’t seem like it would ever happen.
The problem is that it appears Reid won’t be retiring any time soon. Last October, Chiefs owner and CEO Clark Hunt said Reid seems “rejuvenated”, also adding, “I have no sense that he has any interest in retiring any time soon, which is fantastic.”
If Reid has no intention of retiring any time soon, there just isn’t a window for Spagnuolo to take over. Coach Spags is no spring chicken himself, having turned 65 years old at the end of last season.
Regardless of whether Reid retires in one year or five years, it doesn’t seem likely that the Chiefs would want to hand the keys over to someone who is also approaching retirement age.
Spagnuolo is more than qualified to take over for Reid, it just doesn’t seem like the timelines work out.
This is a PREDICTION REACTION, not a REPORT.
