Reid, Arians bring a wealth of experience:
Reid, ARIANS BRING wealth of experience, offensive creativity to Nfl’s Biggest Stage
the Coen brothers suggested in their brilliant 2007 Oscar-winning drama that a meaner America had become No Country for Old Men by 1980.
Maybe so in crime fighting. but that description applies less than ever to coaching in the NFL.
Of the 20 head coaches in the past 10 Super bowls, exactly half (10) have been age 60-plus on game day. And five of the last seven winning Super bowl coaches have been 60-plus.
What’s more, in six Super bowl matchups since 2011 pitting a head coach aged 60-plus against a whippersnapper in his 30s, 40s or 50s, the old geezer won all but once — with only doug Pederson (then 51) and the Philadelphia eagles knocking off bill belichick (then 65) and the New england Patriots three years ago.
This Sunday, in Super bowl LV, 62-year-old Andy reid and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs face 68-year-old bruce Arians and the Tampa bay buccaneers (6:30 p.m. EST, CTV via CBS).
“There is experience that comes with that, and I guess you can say wisdom with age comes with it,” said Arians. “There are a lot of good young coaches out there, and I look forward to continue to grow in this business. We’re lucky to have them in the National Football League.
“by chance, a few of the older guys have got to this point. I probably attribute that to good players, and a little bit of experience there. In my case, I’m fortunate to have a heck of a staff that I’ve been able to gather for the last couple of years.”
reid and Arians are two of the most respected offensive strategists in the NFL this century. reid, in fact, may have no equal.
Neither man, nor any offensive or defensive strategist in the NFL, would last long if they weren’t constantly keeping up with new wrinkles, new schemes on both sides of the ball — to know what works and what doesn’t against the hot new thing.
Here’s more on each man’s career, personality and coaching style:
andy REID
beyond reid’s famously cutting edge and hard-tostop offensive schemes — which force the opposition to defend fully sideline to sideline, near and deep — let’s be clear about one thing.
Whether you’re a strict disciplinarian or a so-called “players’ coach,” if you don’t earn the respect of your charges, you’re not ever reaching a championship game. Whatever the level.
reid is a pure players’ coach. It’s in keeping with his personality. It’s no coincidence that when he finally won his first Super bowl last year, after 21 as NFL head coach, plaudits poured in from all over the league. He’s as well-liked as anyone. especially by his players. It starts here.
“We all want to be treated a certain way,” reid said this week. “I know how I like to be treated, which is: Tell me what I need to do to get better at what I’m trying to get accomplished. And you don’t necessarily have to yell and scream at me to get me to do something better. I don’t think that’s necessarily the best approach. After a while, I know I would just turn that person off and not listen to any thing they said.
“So I kind of go about it that way — try to treat people the way I want to be treated … I look at myself as a teacher of young men, whether it’s on the field or off.”
Today, reid is celebrated as an offensive genius. All you have to do is watch one Chiefs game to see the creativity jumping off your TV screen, which he injects into the playbook for young superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his all-pro pass-catching playmakers Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.
BRUCE arians
His uber-aggressive coaching philosophy is best captured in his description of it, which is becoming legend: “No risk it, no biscuit.”
Now one of the oldest NFL head coaches to work this century, at 68, the always uncommonly frank Arians makes no apologies for that philosophy, either. That is, when he employs it — which isn’t all the time.
“each and every game you have a feel for it on the sideline for how it’s going, how your defence is playing and are the risks worth the rewards?” Arians said Thursday.
“I can’t say that we ever (say), ‘Hey, we’re just going to go in there and throw caution against the wind today.’ A lot of it is just gut feeling as the game is going along.”
After Arians spent 2018 in coaching retirement and worked as a game analyst on CBS NFL telecasts, he took over as the bucs’ head coach in 2019.
Six-time Super bowl champion Qb Tom brady joined him in Tampa 11 months ago. Here they are now in the Super bowl, Arians’ first as head coach. Arians doesn’t have much coaching up to do with brady. “With Tom, there’s not much to tweak,” he said on Wednesday.