The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Coaches both have something to prove
Reid, Shanahan trying to overcome setbacks in past postseasons.
Kansas City coach Andy Reid and San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan arrived here carrying some pretty hefty Super Bowl baggage.
When Reid unpacked, he pulled out his red Chiefs Tommy Bahama shirt. “I like dress codes as long you can wear Tommy Bahama,” Reid quipped.
Reid, who won a title with the Packers as an assistant coach in Super Bowl XXXI, failed in his previous Super Bowl appearance as head coach of the Eagles. Reid went to five NFC title games over eight seasons in Philadelphia and reached the Super Bowl once.
He coached in the past two AFC title games and is set to make his second appearance as a head coach on the game’s grandest stage Sunday.
“Last year, we were that close,” Reid said. “Four inches away.”
Overall, in 21 seasons as a head
coach, he’s taken a team to the playoffs 14 times. He’s the seventh-winningest coach in league history, but doesn’t have a Super Bowl title. “I’ve had so many good experiences, that’s why I’m just going to enjoy this,” Reid said. “I’ve got a great team. I’m very fortunate. That’s really all I care about. I don’t care all that other stuff.”
The six coaches ahead of Reid have 29 combined titles: Don Shula (328 wins, two titles), George Halas (318 wins, six), Bill Belichick (273, six), Tom Landry (250, two), Curly Lambeau (226, six) and Paul Brown (213, seven).
The Eagles reached Super Bowl XXXIX, under Reid but lost 24-21 to New England. A win over the 49ers, and Reid could finally boast of having his own Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“I’ve been around great people,” Reid said about his success.“Goodcoaches,greatowners, good people, coaches and players. It takes a whole team.”
Shanahan was the Falcons’ pass-happy offensive coordinator in Super Bowl LI when the team blew a 28-3 lead in the greatest collapse in Super Bowl history. The 40-yearold is in his third season with the 49ers. He left the Falcons immediately after the Super Bowl debacle and has helped to resurrect the once-proud San Francisco franchise.
Reid and Shanahan both lost in Super Bowls to the Patriots and their great quarterback, Tom Brady. The Falcons and Shanahan couldn’t hold the lead and lost 34-28 in overtime, putting Shanahan’s play-calling and clock management under great scrutiny.
The two coaches’ paths to the Super Bowl LIV are a study in contrasts.
Reid broke into the NFL with the Packers. He was named an offensive assistant on then-coach Mike Holmgren’s staff in 1992. He moved up to assistant offensive line and tight ends coach (1995), then quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach (1997). In 1999, Reid was hired as the Eagles’ head coach, following Jon Gruden and Steve Marucci as former Holmgren assistants to land head coaching jobs.
Gruden gave Shanahan his first NFL job with Tampa Bay at the age of 25 and he was fast-tracked to coordinator spots in Houston, Washington, Cleveland and two seasons with Atlanta before the 49ers hired him in 2017.
Reid broke into coaching at Brigham Young under passing guru Lavell Edwards. While a graduate assistant, Holmgren was also on the Brigham Young staff. Reid’s offenses are known for high-volume passing attacks. Now, he has perhaps the most dynamic young quarterback in the league in Patrick Mahomes.
Reid, with Mahomes at the controls, has unleashed receivers Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman and Sammy Watkins, while also utilizing running back Damien Williams. The Chiefs will take an eightgame winning streak into Super Bowl LIV. Over that streak, which included playoffs wins over Houston and Tennessee, the Chiefs have outscored opponents 253124. The Chiefs started slow against the Texans and Titans but rallied in both games.
To go along with the lethal offense, Reid’s defense has improved over the last half of the season. The Chiefs gave up 23.9 points per game over the first 10. They gave up just 11.5 points over the final six regular-season games.
Shanahan has been a staunch proponent of the outside-zone rushing system that his father, Mike Shanahan, made popular as an NFL coach in the 1990s with the aid of running backs coach Bobby Turner. The younger Shanahan has shown an ability to adjust the system to fit his talent.
In his second year with the Falcons, quarterback Matt Ryan won the league’s MVP award. Other quarterbacks, Robert Griffin III in Washington and Bobby Hoyer in Cleveland, thrived under Shanahan.
In San Francisco, Jimmy Garoppolo is Shanahan’s signal-caller, but he’s leaning heavily on running backs Tevin Coleman, Raheem Mostert and Matt Brieda. Garoppolo was called on to attempt only eight passes in the NFC title game win over Green Bay. The 49ers like to control the clock by running the ball and by implementing a controlled passing attack that features tight end George Kittle. Wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and rookie Deebo Samuel, from South Carolina, are also more than capable.
The 49ers’ defense is powered by a host of first-round picks that have created an electric pass rush. Cornerback Richard Sherman leads a strong secondary.
The 49ers finished the regular season with 48 sacks and added nine more in playoff wins over Minnesota and Green Bay.
Shanahan, who’s run-happy now, will have to relive his play-calling in Super Bowl LI. He doesn’t regret his thirddown pass midway through the fourth quarter that led to a sack-fumble, which Devonta Freeman whiffed on his block pick-up. The play-calling blunder allowed the Patriots to make it a one-possession game.
He does regret his later second down-and-11 call that led to a sack and knocked the Falcons out of field goal range.
“They played a different coverage, didn’t get the call I wanted, so I didn’t like the call,” Shanahan said. “I was hoping we could just get rid of it, but they had a pretty good rush and got a sack.”
Withthreerunningplays,the clockwouldhaverandownand the Patriots would have been forced to use their timeouts.
“I wish I didn’t call that play on second-and-11 that led to that sack,” Shanahan said.