It’ll take more than one season without a postseason berth to pry Andy Reid away from the Chiefs.
When asked about his plans for next year Monday, Reid, 67, told reporters that, “If they’ll have me back, I’ll come back. … I plan on it, yeah.”
The legendary coach’s comments followed an NFL Network report last week stating that he planned to return for 2026 despite retirement speculation, with one source telling the network that he “ain’t going out like this.”
Reid also faced retirement chatter last season before the Chiefs fell to the Eagles in the Super Bowl in February, and he shut down those rumors by saying “you’re going to know when it’s time” and “today’s not that day.”
But the question comes amid a disastrous 6-10 season for the Chiefs that’ll end without a postseason berth, with more retirement questions about tight end Travis Kelce and with superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes recovering from a torn ACL. It is unclear when Mahomes will be ready for next season.
The dynasty that Reid oversaw — featuring three Super Bowl rings, including two of the last three and three consecutive appearances — has fallen apart, with Kansas City’s campaign teetering on the brink of elimination even before Mahomes exited near the end of their Dec. 14 loss to the Chargers with his season-ending injury.
Reid has won 279 regular-season games — he’ll have a chance to win No. 280 on Sunday when Kansas City closes out the regular season in Las Vegas against the Raiders — and has been the Chiefs’ coach since 2013, four years before they drafted Mahomes and five years before he became their starter.
Before arriving in Kansas City, he spent 14 years as the Eagles’ head coach.
As long as Mahomes is still the quarterback, and that’ll start being the case once more at some point next season after completing his recovery, the Chiefs will still be formidable.
As long as they have Reid, that should remain the case, too.
For at least one more season, even as change looms with the potential retirement of Kelce and the potential departure of offensive coordinator Matt Nagy if he gets another chance at being a head coach, Reid wants that overlap to materialize again.
