Who is Andy Reid? What Makes the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Eagles Tick?

Andrew Walter "Andy" Reid. Football head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. Former quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers. Offensive lineman for the BYU football team. His life has been largely devoted to game of football, and at a quick glance he has been largely successful. 

Actually, he's been the most successful coach in the Eagles history, winning 124 games to this point while compiling a .610 winning percentage.

He's led the team to five NFC East titles, 10 playoff victories and one NFC Championship victory, adding some impressive coaching hardware along the way: 2002-AP Coach of the Year, Sporting News Coach of the Year, Maxwell Football Club Coach of the Year, Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year; 2000-Sporting News Coach of the Year, Maxwell Football Club Coach of the Year. 

It's quite a resume for anybody to put together, yet Andy might be second-guessed by local and national media more than any coach in the league, especially considering his credentials. Why? What has he done to deserve the criticism? Hasn't he proved himself to be a football whiz by transforming the Eagles from doormats into an elite team in the NFL? Isn't he the reason the Eagles have been so successful?

That's a question I myself have wondered many times before, and I have come to one conclusion: Andy is a good but not great head coach. He has a high football IQ in some areas but is clearly in the dark on others. I have looked at statistics, crunched some numbers and formed a theory: Andy has had a LOT of help along the way. 

I had a boss who once told me that the reason he was good at his job was because he surrounded himself with people who were good at their jobs. I think that's Andy's theory. 

The coaching tree stemming from him is made up of some pretty smart guys—guys who were pretty smart long before they met Andy. Guys who were and are still very successful after they've left Andy. Guys who have been successful by doing the opposite of what Andy would do. 

Jim Johnson, John Harbaugh, Steve Spagnuolo: These are names of men who were the crutch that Andy propped himself up with. JJ was one of the best defensive coordinators in recent NFL history. His coaching resulted in 26 Pro Bowl selections. Reid had so much confidence in him and his D that he took a hands-off approach to defense. Specials and Harbaugh was basically the same story. Spags learned from JJ and took it the next level, in my opinion, the year the Giants won the Super Bowl. 

The one coach who learned a lot from Reid and adopted some of his philosophy is the moron in Minnesota, Brad Childress. So the one coach who Andy influenced can't win with an all-star cast and an owner who spends money like he prints it.

Next, you can look at the players. Reid inherited some pretty darn good players from the Ray Rhodes era: Brian Dawkins, Jermane Mayberry, Jeremiah Trotter, Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Duce Staley and Tra Thomas. All of those players (besides Vincent, who was a free agent) were draft picks in a four-year span.

Most of Andy's draft picks and free agents have been largely unimpressive. The standouts in 10 years are Donovan McNabb, Sheldon Brown, Lito Sheppard, Mike Patterson, Trent Cole, Winston Justice, Jason Avant, DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy.  That's six good picks in Rhodes' time to 10 good picks in Reid's time.

His penchant for having the most Mormons on any NFL team is well known, but the only one who could play football was Chad Lewis. He has let a lot of players leave in the prime of their careers, only to replace them with inferior ones—see: BRIAN DAWKINS. He is the GM and is solely responsible for the talent that is rolled out to the field year after year. 

He is known as one of the best game planning coaches in the league, while also being regarded as the worst with in-game adjustments and clock management. He has a subpar challenge success rate. He has the most pass-happy offense in NFL history. He refuses to admit mistakes or answer reporters who question his decisions, although in light of the McDermott firing it seems like he is aware that his time might be running out. 

He is a proud man who can be pig-headed and arrogant. He also shoulders all the blame for losses, defends his players who screw up and deflects the praise to the players and coaches. 

So who is Andy Reid? He is the best coach the Eagles have had and likely will have for a long time. He is smart enough to know he needs good help. He is the best coach for this city and this team, and our best hope for a Super Bowl. The good with that bad—that's who Andy Reid is.