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Earlier this offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs made perhaps the biggest splash among franchises replacing their head coach with the move from Romeo Crennel to Andy Reid. While much has been made of the changes on the roster, most notably at quarterback with Alex Smith, there's likely no greater influence on the team than the move from one veteran NFL coach to another.
Let's be honest: any move away from Romeo Crennel was automatically going to be a win. Whether the team brought in an experienced voice or fresh face, the team was going in the right direction by ridding themselves of Crennel at the helm. Crennel's championship experience as a defensive coordinator has served him well in recent decades and will likely do so at some point again in the near future. But as a head coach, he was miserable.
In fact, Crennel was historically bad as a head coach. Say what you want about some coaches not having much to work with, but the Chiefs had a far more talent than their record of 2-14 last year. Crennel has the second-worst winning percentage (33.7 precent) of any active coach, trailing only Mike Nolan. Historically speaking, Crennel is the 12th worst coach in NFL history in terms of win percentage. With a career record of 28-55, Crennel was abysmal calling the shots and he needed to go.
Not only was losing Crennel a victory for Clark Hunt, but the addition of Reid was even greater. Reid is No. 23 on the all-time wins list in NFL history and is fifth among active coaches, trailing only Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin and Jeff Fisher. He's also eighth among active coaches in win percentage (58.3 percent). Think about the number of teams that change coaches each year and how many wild cards are involved in the process. For the Chiefs to land a man who has won as many as the best in the business is a major get.
But how does Andy Reid stack up against his peers in NFL history? Consider this: Andy Reid is tied at No. 12 in playoff wins. Top 12. He is third among active coaches. That means only Belichick and Coughlin have left the field victorious more than Andy Reid in the playoffs.
Several teams could claim to be legitimately happy at the top with their head coach and rightfully so. Last year's Super Bowl showed two of the hotter young coaches in the NFL in John and Jim Harbaugh. Others like Mike Tomlin stand out alongside some of the active coaches we've also discussed. But when you consider the Chiefs' options, like the many others rearranging furniture this offseason, it's pretty clear the Chiefs scored big with their coaching change.
[Writer's note: I'm an idiot and said Reid hasn't made a Super Bowl before. He has. He just hasn't won one.]