Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

How Andy Reid can become the best coach in NFL history

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 2/3/24

Does Andy Reid have his eyes on a bigger prize than Super Bowl LVIII? He should. With a win against the 49ers, the Chief’s head coach gets one step closer to becoming the winningest coach in NFL history.

Don Shula spent 33 years as an NFL head coach. He spent seven years (1963-1969) in Baltimore and 26 more in Miami (1970-1995). Including playoffs, he won 73 games with the Colts and 274 with the Dolphins for a total of 347 wins, more than any coach in NFL history.

Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick is in second place with 333 wins, but he finds himself without a team for the first time since 1999. After two interviews with Atlanta, the Falcons chose Rams assistant Raheem Morris instead.

While there’s always a chance Belichick finds a team in 2025, nothing is guaranteed for a head coach about to turn 72 years old. One thing that is certain: Legendary Bears coach George Halas had 324 wins in his career, third-most in NFL history.

With 283 wins under his belt, Reid will almost certainly pass Halas’ win total, but can he catch Belichick or Shula? As long as he continues coaching, he certainly can.

“How about those… CHIEFS!”

Andy Reid thanks the city and their fans at the #SBLIV Championship Parade! pic.twitter.com/aTvqoQN1dS
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) February 6, 2020

Reid needs 51 wins to pass Belichick and 65 to pass Shula. Thanks to MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, Reid has 143 wins (15 in the playoffs) since joining the Chiefs in 2013. That’s an average of 13 wins per year. At that rate, the coach would need just five more years to reach 348 wins and pass Shula.

Of course, winning 13 games per year isn’t easy and not likely as the team (and Reid) gets older. But at 65 years old, Big Red still has plenty of football left in him and with back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, he’s obviously coaching at a very high level.

If he wants to coach until he’s 72, the same age as former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, he’ll need 9.28 wins per season to beat Shula. Mix in a few deep playoff runs and 348 wins seems fairly reasonable.

Good thing his MVP quarterback is signed through 2031. As long as the team continues to put good players around Mahomes, there’s no reason to think Reid can’t finish his career with the most wins in NFL history.

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