Tag: Andy Reid

Shane Buechele joined Chiefs to learn from Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid and others

The UDFA rookie quarterback has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the Kansas City Chiefs.

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The Kansas City Chiefs remain an attractive destination for undrafted free agents, even at positions where the team has clear starters.

Nothing short of complete disaster could lead to undrafted SMU QB Shane Buechele earning a starting job in Kansas City. It’s even a stretch to think that he could unseat the incumbent backup in Chad Henne. Those facts didn’t stop him from choosing to sign with the Chiefs, though. Instead, they helped to influence his decision to join the team.

“I think this opportunity that the Chiefs gave me is a great one,” Buechele told reporters on Sunday. “To be able to learn under Pat (Patrick Mahomes) and to be able to learn under (Chad) Henne as well, those guys are vets and they’ve been playing for a while. Just being able to learn under them and then being able to learn under the coaches is another thing for me. Being able to develop into the NFL system that they have is a lot different than what I ran at SMU, but I’ve already learned a ton and I’m really excited for it.”

Buechele gets to learn from the best quarterback in the league in Patrick Mahomes. That’s an opportunity that few young quarterbacks would turn down. That’s especially true of a player like Buechele who feels he has a lot to learn from Mahomes.

“Pat (Patrick Mahomes) obviously plays a different way,” Buechele said. “It’s not a traditional way of playing quarterback and I think that’s what makes him so good. He can make so many different types of throws from different types of angles and obviously he’s super talented. I think he kind of takes a baseball side to it from playing baseball and I can kind of do that as well. Being able to watch him on film, being able to see how he puts his feet to his throws and things like that.”

Buechele actually worked out a bit with Mahomes in Fort Worth this offseason, so the two are already familiar with each other. He also gets a chance to learn from Chad Henne, who has stuck around in the NFL for 12 seasons. That’s not a bad person to learn from if you’re looking to stick in the NFL for a long time.

Then he’ll also have a former NFL quarterback as his quarterback coach in Mike Kafka. He’ll get to work with one of the most revered offensive coordinators in the league in Eric Bieniemy. There’s also a future Hall of Fame head coach in Andy Reid, who is known for his work getting the most out of his quarterbacks.

“Yeah, Coach Kafka is a great guy and he’s a great coach,” Buechele said. “Just in these three days of camp, I’ve learned a ton in meetings and super great for me to be able to do that. He’s a really good teacher, and it’s been helpful for me to learn from him as well as Coach EB (Eric Bieniemy and Coach (Andy) Reid as well.”

Overall, the gig with the Chiefs is an opportunity that checked all the boxes for Buechele. He won’t just be able to learn from the best and improve his game, but he’ll get to compete to make a team that has been the pinnacle of NFL success in recent years.

“Like I said before, this is a great opportunity for me,” Buechele explained. “I know the tradition here is a winning tradition, especially recently the Chiefs have been successful. So just the opportunity that I have here to be able to battle for a spot and to learn from everybody on this team is a great one and I’m thankful for it.”

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid impressed with LB Nick Bolton’s rookie minicamp performance

Reid praised the rookie linebacker for his toughness, intelligence, and instincts after the three-day minicamp.

The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped their three-day rookie minicamp on Sunday.

Over the course of the weekend, the players built a foundation for their time in Kansas City. Despite some changes to the format of rookie minicamp this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of rookies got a chance to leave their first professional impressions on the coaching staff.

Andy Reid came away impressed with what he saw from the Chiefs’ top draft choice, Missouri LB Nick Bolton. He praised him for his toughness, intelligence and instincts. He specifically noted one play that came in red-zone drills at the end of practice today.

“He had a nice interception today actually right in the red zone,” Reid said of Bolton. “He’s Tiger-tough. He’s out there battling. You have to love it. He’s got great instincts. He’s very intelligent. Did a nice job.”

With Bolton making plays in practice, it seems that he accomplished what he set out to do at the onset of minicamp. The goals that he set out for himself were to master his playbook and get better each and every day.

“Right now, I’m just trying to learn the playbook,” Bolton said on Friday. “I don’t really have a position; I’m just trying to learn as much as I can throughout the next three days and OTAs. I really don’t have a position; I’m just trying to come in every single day trying to compete and get better. Just trying to expand my knowledge of the playbook.”

There’s only so much that Coach Reid can take away from Bolton’s performance when he’s not playing in pads and hitting, but so far he’s leaving the right impression on his head coach. The type of impression that makes you excited for what’s to come in the not-so-distant future.

“Now, we’re in shorts, and he’s a linebacker,” Reid continued. “I know he probably can’t wait until we start hitting and that, but for the drills here, he sure did a nice job.”

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Odds for Chargers’ Brandon Staley to win NFL Coach of the Year in 2021

Chargers head coach Brandon Staley is already being highly regarded.

Chargers head coach Brandon Staley has not even made his debut yet, but he is already being highly regarded.

The betting odds for 2021 NFL Coach of the Year recently came out and Staley is tied for the second-best odds to win the prestigious award, with Browns’ Kevin Stefanski being the favorite.

Staley is tied with Rams’ Sean McVay, 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan, Chiefs’ Andy Reid and Dolphins’ Brian Flores at +1600, per BetMGM.

That means if you bet $100 now and Staley earns the honors at end of the season, you take home $1600.

Even though he has never been a head coach, there’s reasons to believe Staley will have success.

With the roster that Los Angeles boasts after all the additions this offseason, paired with his ability to get the best out of his players, Staley is capable of taking this team to the top.

Only time will tell how he does in the new role.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Andy Reid talks highly anticipated Chiefs-Packers Week 9 matchup

Reid joined NFL Network’s Steve Mariucci on their schedule reveal show.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid joined his good friend Steve Mariucci on NFL Network’s schedule reveal show.

The two are old pal’s from their time working with the Green Bay Packers, so of course, they couldn’t avoid talking about the highly anticipated matchup between the two teams. The hype comes from the quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers.

“We’ve got some good quarterback matchups, that being one of them,” Reid told Mariucci. “I mean, Rodgers is gonna go down as one of the all-time best ever. And I know those two have a relationship, they do those commercials (State Farm) together. So, there’ll be that nice competition between those two and obviously, they’ve got a bunch of good players. So, we’ll have to be ready for that one.”

Rodgers, of course, is currently the reigning league MVP. He’s someone who Mahomes often gets compared to because they both have unique arm talent and playmaking ability. Mahomes is two years removed from his league MVP win, but he’s still proven to be one of the most electric playmakers in the NFL.

The two star quarterbacks had a chance to face off in 2019, but Mahomes suffered a kneecap injury that kept him sidelined. During that game, the Packers barely edged out the Chiefs, who were quarterbacked by Matt Moore. They came away with a one-score victory, defeating Kansas City 31-24.

While Rodgers has made it clear in recent weeks that he’s unhappy and would like to be traded from Green Bay, nothing seems to be imminent on that front. Fans remain hopeful that they’ll get this matchup between Rodgers and Mahomes, not Mahomes and Packers backup QB Jordan Love.

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Brett Veach: Eric Stonestreet has seen Chiefs’ 2021 schedule

Stonestreet is part of an elite inner circle who has already seen the Kansas City Chiefs’ schedule.

An elite inner circle has already seen the NFL’s schedule ahead of its reveal. Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach revealed on the Rich Eisen Show that a few people within his department have already seen the team’s schedule. That group includes Veach, Andy Reid and . . . Eric Stonestreet?

Yes, Stonestreet, the actor and Chiefs superfan, is part of the inner circle who has already seen the schedule according to Veach. Technically, he’s family, having played Chiefs HC Andy Reid’s brother Randy Reid at training camp in 2019.

“What you can do at least to protect me a little bit here so I don’t get in trouble, any information you need Chiefs related just give Eric (Stonestreet) a text,” Veach told Eisen. “And that way, we’ll keep it clean.”

Apparently, Stonestreet believes there’s a fourth person who has already seen the schedule in the building that Veach forgot to mention. That would be none other than Chiefs CEO and Chairman, Clark Hunt.

That certainly would make some sense that the owner of the team would be privy to the schedule early. I’m a bit surprised that Patrick Mahomes hasn’t managed to get a glimpse at the schedule yet. We’ll all know soon enough the complete schedule with the clock ticking down to the full reveal, but maybe Stonestreet will be so kind as to tease some of his insider knowledge this afternoon.

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Andy Reid: Orlando Brown Jr. told Chiefs to pick Creed Humphrey

Patrick Mahomes picked Clyde Edwards-Helaire last year, now Orlando Brown Jr. picked Creed Humphrey for the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Last year, the Kansas City Chiefs revealed that Patrick Mahomes hand-picked RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the 2021 NFL draft. This year, it’s the Chiefs’ newest trade acquisition who had some input on a draft pick. Andy Reid revealed to reporters that new  LT Orlando Brown Jr. recommended the Chiefs take a closer look at Creed Humphrey ahead of the draft.

“Orlando (Brown Jr.) told us to go get Creed (Humphrey) when he was here,” Reid told reporters on Friday. “He says, ‘There’s a good one at Oklahoma that you need to take a peak at.’ We already had our eye on him. But that was neat for Orlando to put it out to us that way.”

Little did Brown Jr. know that the Chiefs had already done their research, we’re interested in taking Humphrey and ultimately would select him in the draft.

The two both played for the Oklahoma Sooners during their collegiate career. While they never played together on the field, their time at the University of Oklahoma did overlap. When Brown Jr. was a redshirt Junior, Humphrey was taking a redshirt year.

Humphrey revealed to reporters that Brown Jr. influenced him with the way he carried himself as a veteran leader in their early days together at Oklahoma.

“Just the mentality that he has every day that he carries,” Humphrey said. “He’s a guy that’s going to go in there, do the work that’s necessary to get at the next level that he wants to be at. When I got to OU that’s something that I admired right away from when I met him. Seeing him go in, work as hard as he can every single day, work hard in the weight room, during training, during position drills and when we were doing stuff on our own. Just seeing him do that and the mentality that he has. He’s such a mean player on the field too, that’s something I’ve always admired about him and something I’ve always tried to copy my game after.”

Now, reunited in Kansas City, there seems to be a lot of excitement about the reunion between former teammates as they both start a new chapter.

“I’m so excited,” Humphrey told reporters. “You know, I’m really close with Orlando, he’s helped me a lot, he’s mentored me a lot during my time at OU. You know, just being able to be on a team with him, I’m really excited about it and to be able to join such a great organization. I’m so excited, I can’t wait.”

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Former Chiefs QB Alex Smith unlikely to get into coaching soon

Smith has already explained why he won’t be coaching anytime soon.

Following Alex Smith’s retirement, many Kansas City Chiefs fans are hopeful that one day he’d join the franchise as a coach.

They’re even more hopeful after Chiefs HC Andy Reid said he texted him, calling “first dibs” on him if he were ever to get into coaching. The reality of the situation is that Smith’s next career probably won’t be coaching, at least not right away. In his own retirement video, Smith gives you an idea of what he plans to do next, which is to spend time with his wife and kids.

“Because even though I’ve got plenty of snaps left in me, after 16 years of giving this game everything I’ve got, I can’t wait to see what else is possible,” Smith said in his retirement video. “But first I’m going to take a little time to enjoy a few of those walks with my wife and those kids have no idea what’s coming for them in the backyard.”

On the potential for coaching in the NFL at any point in his career, Smith has already commented on why it’s not likely to happen. In a fun exercise with GQ Magazine called “Actually Me,” Smith went undercover on the internet to secretly respond to tweets, Reddit posts and more. Toward the end of the video, which you can watch here, Smith answered a question about potentially becoming a QB coach in San Francisco.

“I am planning on moving back to the Bay eventually, but I don’t know, I think my wife would kill me if I decided to coach,” Smith wrote in a tweet. “She sacrificed enough during my playing career, being away. I think if I decided to continue on – even more so as a coach – I don’t think that would be good.”

Maybe one day in the future Smith will miss the game and get the urge to come back to the NFL and become a coach. For now, it seems like he plans to ensure that his family is the No. 1 priority in his life.

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, HC Andy Reid vaccinated against COVID-19

Approximately 18 players and staff have already been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 per Andy Reid.

Slowly, but surely, the Kansas City Chiefs are getting their players and staff vaccinated against COVID-19.

As of Monday, when players could officially return to team facilities for the first phase of the offseason program, only a handful of players and staff have been fully vaccinated. One confirmed to have received his vaccination is  Chiefs HC Andy Reid.

“There’s approximately 18 that have been vaccinated,” Reid told reporters on Monday. “The staff will have an opportunity to do that starting tomorrow. Right now, there’s a handful of them that have already been vaccinated, myself included. I think the more that we can push towards that, I think that’s a positive. I think giving people an opportunity to do it is great as we move forward.”

The NFL is requiring that non-player Tier 1 and Tier 2 employees be vaccinated ahead of the upcoming season. Tier 1 includes coaches and trainers, while Tier 2 includes general managers, assistants and football operations staff.

Reid is hopeful that more players, coaches and staff will be vaccinated in the coming weeks as it becomes available to them. He wants to keep everyone healthy and involved throughout the season in order to get back to a sense of normalcy.

“I don’t want anybody to get sick and I surely don’t want anybody to pass away, so I think in certain situations a vaccine becomes important,” Reid continued. “We’ve seen it from the polio era on through that things have taken place where it’s helped us as humans here move forward, so I put that right there.”

Reid’s mother, Elizabeth, was a radiologist, so his stance on vaccination is unsurprising.

As for the players, only a few of them have been vaccinated against the virus already. One of those players is Chiefs star QB Patrick Mahomes, whose decision was based on protecting his fiancee and newborn daughter.

“Yeah, I’ve been vaccinated already,” Mahomes told reporters. “To me, it was more of a personal decision with having a baby girl and knowing I was going to be around people, I wanted to make sure I could do whatever I could to help keep her healthy but I think it’s a personal decision for everybody. I mean whatever you believe I think you can do whatever that is and we’ll figure out the best way to keep each other healthy by social distancing and doing whatever it is whenever we can in this building.”

Mahomes’ teammate Tyrann Mathieu revealed that he has yet to be vaccinated, but he plans to do so in the future.

“I have not gotten my vaccination yet,” Mathieu said. “I’m hoping that I could do it soon. Obviously, it’s a choice for everybody involved. I think everybody has different perspectives on it. I think at the end of the day it’s all about trying to put yourself in the best position to live a healthy life going forward and then all the people around you. So I’m hoping I can get to that. We’re still kind of going through the process, me and my family, but I’m hoping we can do it.”

Right now, it all seems to be a matter of access and availability. I anticipate the NFL in coordination with the Chiefs franchise, will do their best to make vaccination readily available to players, staff and their families.

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Andy Reid explains Chiefs’ 2021 coaching staff changes

Reid broke down all the changes to his coaching staff during Monday’s press conference.

The Kansas City Chiefs announced eight changes to their coaching staff back at the beginning of April.

Speaking to the media for the first time since the 2021 staff was announced, Chiefs HC Andy Reid explained his decisions behind the various promotions, additions and reassignments.

“We’ve also had a few coaching changes take place,” Reid began. “There wasn’t a lot of changeover in the staff, so I want guys to continue to have that opportunity to grow.”

Reid provided some important context behind one of the most interesting decisions — wide receivers coach Greg Lewis shifting to coach the running backs. His expertise has been the wide receiver position, where he played back when he was an NFL player. This is uncharted territory for him, but according to Reid, he asked for the job.

“Greg Lewis is going to have the opportunity to move over to running backs,” Reid said. “Greg actually came to me about wanting the challenge of coaching the running backs. And as you guys know about how I feel about Greg, he’s very, very intelligent, has a great feel for the game, did a phenomenal job with the wide receivers, and now he’s able to learn that other side—the protection side and all that goes into coaching the running backs and the run game, and still give them tips in the pass game to make them even better than what they are now.”

Taking over in place of Lewis is Joe Bleymaier, who has held a number of different positions with the Chiefs over the years. Most recently he served as the pass-game analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach.

“Joe Bleymaier who I’ve also mentioned before has an opportunity to coach the wide receivers,” Reid said. “He’s been the assistant wide receivers coach for a couple of years and then he moved back to quarterbacks and now he’s back in the wide receiver room as a full-time coach.”

The Chiefs also have a few assistants who are jumping from one spot to another.

“David Girardi will take Joe’s spot as the pass game analyst/assistant quarterbacks coach. Connor Embree who was working as a defensive assistant now moves over to the offensive side. You remember he played wide receiver at Kansas—he moves over to the offensive side as an offensive quality control coach.”

Reid also went over the three new additions to the staff, beginning with former Youngstown State Defensive Coordinator Donald D’Alesio, who will become a defensive assistant in Kansas City.

“Donald D’Alesio is our defensive assistant, he takes the place of Connor Embree and comes from the college ranks back to us here in Kansas City, and he’ll do a nice job. He’s got a nice defensive background to him and he’ll be a nice addition in there.”

The team has a new strength and conditioning assistant, Tyler Judkins, who comes over from the Los Angeles Chargers.

“Then, Tyler Judkins replaces Travis Crittenden who took a job working internationally in the Caribbean, one of the islands there—Turks and Caicos. So, it gives him an opportunity to develop future Olympians and then Tyler Judkins gets to replace him here. I was hesitant to tell you Turks and Caicos. In case you’re there, go ahead and look him up. Small island, look him up and maybe get a free meal from him. So Tyler, again, he’ll become our assistant strength and conditioning coach.”

Finally, the biggest addition for the Chiefs was to bring in former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker coach Ken Flajole. He brings over two decades of NFL coaching experience to Kansas City. He also goes way back with Reid to their earliest days of coaching.

“I hired Ken Flajole on the defensive side to coach the outside linebackers,” Reid concluded. “Ken and I go way back to our time at El Paso, the University of Missouri, the Green Bay Packers and now back here. So, Ken’s got a long list of great accomplishments in this profession.”

There wasn’t much in the way of coaching turnover this year, but certainly plenty of changes. Hopefully, those decisions will only help the Chiefs in their pursuit of a third consecutive Super Bowl appearance.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid, QB Patrick Mahomes comment on Alex Smith’s retirement

Mahomes and Reid both had effusive praise for former Chiefs QB Alex Smith.

Former Kansas City Chiefs starting QB Alex Smith announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday.

Smith spent five seasons in Kansas City after being acquired in trade when Andy Reid first arrived with the team. He helped usher in a new era of Chiefs football after one of the lowest points in franchise history during the 2012 NFL season.

Reid spoke a bit about Smith as a person and a player. He also revealed that Smith will have a home in Kansas City if he chooses to take up a coaching career at any point after his retirement.

“Yeah, so you guys know how I feel about him,” Reid said of Smith. “He’s a heck of a person. He had a great career, played for a number of years here and with other teams. Everywhere he went, he made them better. I texted him a while back, if he gets into coaching, I’ll get first dibs on him. Which I doubt he will, [get into coaching]. If he decides to go that route, he’d be a guy that you’d love to have on your staff. But he’s really a special, special person and he’ll go down as one of my all-time favorites there.”

Current Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes only spent one season with Smith in Kansas City, but that one season had a tremendous impact on the young gunslinger. Without Smith’s tutelage, Mahomes’ start to his NFL career might have looked much different. He continues to credit Smith for much of his early development as a player.

“Yeah, I mean, just a tremendous guy, obviously a great player,” Mahomes said of Smith. “He dealt with adversity throughout his career and always seemed to come out on top and to be better for it. He’s someone that has dealt with different coaches, he’s dealt with different systems and he’s always had success.

“Obviously, with the injury he had, to be able to come back and lead his team to the playoffs, it shows you the type of man he is, the type of team player he is. I’m just grateful for the time I had with him that really helped develop me be the quarterback I am today.”

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