Andy Reid will indeed be going for a three-peat in 2024.
The Chiefs head coach confirmed on Monday that he will be returning next season as Kansas City looks to become the first team in NFL history to win three Lombardi Trophies in a row.
“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about it, but I get asked it," Reid said when asked about the thought of retiring on top, a day after his Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. "I mean, I’m still kind of in awe of the game and what went on there, so I really haven’t thought why or what or anything else. But people keep asking me, and I keep saying, ‘Why didn’t (Bill) Belichick and Pete (Carroll) retire?’ Ask those old guys those questions.
"But I’m the old guy now, so I guess I’m gonna be asked that. And I really haven’t gone there. I haven’t really thought about it."
Retirement speculation surrounded the 65-year-old coach in the build-up toward Super Bowl LVIII, and Reid kept those questions alive in the immediate aftermath of the Chiefs' overtime triumph over the 49ers, saying postgame, "I haven't had time to think about it." However, Chiefs owner/CEO Clark Hunt said on Sunday night that Reid's return was the expectation all along.
Reid entered rare territory with Sunday's victory, joining Bill Belichick, Chuck Noll, Joe Gibbs and Bill Walsh as coaches to win three or more Super Bowl rings. Winning three in a row would be quite the highlight on his Hall of Fame resume, but it's a scenario Reid hasn't really thought much about.
“I don’t think a lot about that, but I think that would be pretty neat. A neat thing to do," Reid said. "You don’t really go there when you’re in this thing. You go back to your dark room and the film and the draft coming up and the combine. All those things, that’s kind of where you go. You’re not talking three-peat. Well, some guys do. You know, it’d be great.”
Reid and the Chiefs have plenty to improve on after a subpar offensive season compared to their usual standard. Kansas City finished the 2023 season outside the top five of total offense for the first time with Patrick Mahomes as its starting quarterback, and its struggles were apparent in both the AFC Championship Game and the first half of Super Bowl LVIII, where the Chiefs entered halftime scoring only three points.
As Reid indicated on Monday, the Chiefs will also need to deal with revamped teams within their division as Jim Harbaugh takes over in Los Angeles and Antonio Pierce maintains control in Las Vegas, the latter having earned a win in the Chiefs and Raiders' second meeting of the 2023 season.
"We’ve got great competition in the AFC West," he said. "We just had some hirings, coaching hirings. And these guys are good football coaches with good quarterbacks, good teams. And so, it’s not going to just be easy. It’s not how this thing rolls. We’ll have change over on our team, which every team has, so you don’t know what’s there. There’s a whole lot of unexpected, and you got to keep battling through it and have a good offseason. Then a good training camp and that ball is shaped kind of funny so it’s got to bounce for you in the right direction.”
Reid will enter his 26th season as a head coach sitting fourth all-time in regular-season wins (258) and second all-time in playoff wins (26). The Chiefs head coach will look to put the ultimate feather in his cap in 2024 by doing the unprecedented.