Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has poured cold water over any notion that head coach Andy Reid considered retirement before or after Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII victory.
“I would like to think that other than his wife, Tammy, I don’t think anybody talks to coach [as much] or knows coach as well as I do,” Veach said during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” as shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “And [retiring] has never come up. So, I would be shocked if he takes time away and comes up with a decision that is something other than coaching football.”
Interestingly, Reid reportedly told Jay Glazer of Fox Sports before the Super Bowl LVII win over the Philadelphia Eagles that he isn’t “getting any younger” and had “a decision I have to make after this game.”
Some connecting dots may have thought that Reid, who turns 65 years old next month, could step aside so that longtime assistant and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy could take over as Kansas City’s head coach this winter.
However, Reid told NBC Sports’ Peter King shortly after Sunday’s thrilling 38-35 victory that he is not retiring and plans to continue coaching.
Per Eric Edholm of the NFL’s website, Reid admitted Monday that Bieniemy may need “to go somewhere and do his thing” this offseason to ultimately become a head coach with a different organization.
Veach added during Tuesday’s conversation with McAfee that Reid merely needs a breather after yet another “draining” season.
“But for him now to kind of be able to have that time to decompress and go spend time with his family, recharge the batteries, start working on some new concepts and ideas and let me and my staff go to work — I think that it’s re-energized him,” Veach explained.
According to Pro-Football-Reference, Reid is fifth all-time among NFL coaches with 247 career regular-season wins. He’s guided the Chiefs to three Super Bowl appearances and two titles since the start of the 2019 campaign
