Matt Rhule and Andy Reid to coach vs. each other for 1st time, but connection dates back
Matt Rhule and Andy Reid will meet on the football field for the first time Sunday when the Chiefs host the Panthers.
The two coaches have never been on the same staff, but there is a shared history. There are a variety of avenues that Rhule could have taken to divert his path from becoming the head coach of the Panthers. From accepting offers for other college head coaching jobs or taking a position with the New York Jets in 2019.
Potentially joining Reid’s former Philadelphia Eagles staff is just one of them.
Rhule coached at Temple from 2006-11, holding a variety of positions, including offensive coordinator or assistant offensive coordinator from 2008-11. Britt Reid, one of Andy’s sons, was a student assistant for the Owls from 2010-12 working with the offense. Britt is now the Chiefs linebackers/outside linebackers coach.
Britt, now a linebackers coach at Kansas City, has a close relationship with Rhule and told his father while he was working at Temple that he should make Rhule a part of his Eagles staff. (Reid was the coach in Philadelphia from 1999-2012.)
“My son just kept saying, this guy is an unbelievable football coach,” Andy Reid said. “He’s so smart, he knows both sides of the ball. He can coach anything. And I’m just telling you, he’s a star down the road. And I go, ‘OK, I want this guy,’ but at the time I had a good staff. I didn’t have room, literally room, to bring somebody else in. There was just no space, period. “
In 2012, Rhule was hired by Tom Coughlin and the New York Giants as the assistant offensive line coach. Seeing a coach his son spoke so highly of going to an NFC East rival wasn’t the best turn of events for Reid.
“I had no spots, which was like a dumb thing; I should have found a spot. And actually I knew he (went up) with the Giants, and I’m going doggone, that’s not where we wanted him to go,” Reid. said. “But I’m he sure got a good experience with Coach Coughlin and I’m sure he’ll tell you that it helps him now that he’s back in the league.”
The Rhule-Reid connection continued with Andy’s youngest son, Spencer, who played running back at Temple for two years while Rhule was there before leaving to go on a two-year Mormon mission and earning his degree at Utah. He’s now an associate strength and conditioning coach with Colorado State University’s football team.
“I got to know the Reid family. Coach Reid, Miss Tammy (Reid), who’s always been fantastic to (my wife) Julie over the years, and fantastic to me as well,” Rhule said. “Just a great family.”
Rhule eventually became head coach at Temple after a year with the Giants before he was hired by Baylor in 2017. After three seasons in Texas, Rhule found his way to the Panthers, despite an opportunity to take the head job — or at least an interview — with the Giants this offseason.
He now finds himself preparing to face Reid and the Chiefs, who Andy has been with since 2013, on Sunday.
“The opportunity to have coached under Coach Reid, to learn under him, would be something that any young coach would want,” Rhule said. “And you look at all the coaches that are having success as head coaches out on their own after spending time with him, so yeah, Britt always tried to put a good word in for me, but never quite worked out.”
It’s interesting to go back and think about how different things could have been had Rhule joined the infamous Reid coaching tree that includes familiar Panthers names — Ron Rivera and Sean McDermott. Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, the Chicago Bears’ Matt Nagy and Eagles coach Doug Pederson all learned under Reid.
Would Rhule be coaching the Panthers now? Probably not, but it’s hard to say for sure.
There’s often interesting ties among the coaching community. For example, Panthers running back coach, and best friend of Rhule’s, Jeff Nixon, coached under Reid from 2007-10 as an offensive/special teams assistant.
But even for two coaches who never actually worked together, Sunday’s game will have a special wrinkle to it; the Panthers and Chiefs don’t get to face off often.
“The things that I’ve always taken away from Coach (Reid) were just his consistency. He’s the same guy every day. You can’t tell when around him, are they winning? Are they losing? He just has a plan, and he sticks to it. He doesn’t panic,” Rhule said. “And I think as a result, people respond to him and relate to him. His work ethic is legendary. And he’s always been there anytime I had a question or needed something, so I’m very grateful to him.”
The respect goes both ways.
“I’ll tell you he did a great job at the college level, and he’s got great energy, he’s smart, demanding all those things,” Reid said. “And he’s honest, he’s not gonna tell you stories, and so normally that gives you an opportunity to last awhile in this league.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2020 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Matt Rhule and Andy Reid to coach vs. each other for 1st time, but connection dates back."
