Amid Andy Reid retiring rumors, why these 3 Delaware alums will take over Chiefs

Andy Reid turns 66 years old next month, and he's about to finish his 25th consecutive season as a head coach in the NFL. He could end the season with his third Super Bowl victory should his Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.

For Reid, who spent his first 14 seasons coaching the Eagles to five NFC championship games and a Super Bowl appearance, there's certainly nothing left to prove in a Hall of Fame coaching career.

In his 11 seasons with the Chiefs, Reid's teams have reached the playoffs 10 times, going at least as far as the AFC championship game for the sixth straight season. They're playing in their fourth Super Bowl in five seasons.

That's downright Belichick-ian. So is this: Reid is not only the winningest coach in Eagles history with 130 regular-season victories, he's also the winningest coach in Chiefs history with 128.

Reid, with 258 wins, ranks fourth all-time among NFL head coaches, trailing only Don Shula (328), George Halas (318) and Bill Belichick (302) himself.

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At Reid's current pace of 11.6 wins per season with the Chiefs, he would have to coach seven more seasons to pass Shula. He would be 72 years old.

That's certainly possible, especially with quarterback Patrick Mahomes still only 28 years old. Mahomes would be in his mid-30s − and still under contract − when Reid could possibly pass Shula around the 2029 or 2030 season.

Of course, it's more than likely that star tight end Travis Kelce won't be playing in 2030. By then, he and Taylor Swift could be a married couple in their early 40s, with their kid(s) hanging out with their Uncle Jason.

But we digress. So let's get back to Reid and the possibility of retirement, and a plausible replacement plan led by three University of Delaware alums.

We're talking about Chiefs general manager Brett Veach, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier. The trio would no doubt be the envy of Logan Roy's four adult children from the HBO series "Succession" mainly because this transition would be seamless.

For the record, Reid has been asked often by the media during Super Bowl week about the possibility of retiring. He brushed those rumors aside, telling reporters on Thursday, much like he has all week: "I don't think about that. I'm tied up in the game and trying to take care of that.

"I'm sure somewhere, I'll know when that time is. It's not today and it won't be Sunday."

But Reid did not say that he's definitely coaching in the 2024 season, which he could have done, thus quashing the rumors.

Veach, for his part, seemed shocked that Reid's possible retirement was even a question.

"That is not something that I've heard directly," Veach told Audacy's 610 Sports Radio this week. "I don't buy one bit of that, for what it's worth. Maybe I don't know anything, but I would be shocked more than anybody − and I talk to coach every day."

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Whether that happens next week, next year or even in the next decade, it makes perfect sense for Nagy to replace Reid as head coach, while Bleymaier would then take Nagy's place as offensive coordinator.

After all, Reid has known all three for nearly two decades, when Veach, Nagy and Bleymaier all started as Eagles coaching interns. Reid brought Veach and Nagy with him to Kansas City in 2013, one week after the Eagles fired Reid (Bleymaier pursued a business degree, then got into coaching in college before coming to the Chiefs in 2016).

Veach took over as general manager in 2017, the same year Veach convinced Reid and previous GM John Dorsey to trade up for Mahomes in the first round of the draft. Nagy took over as offensive coordinator in 2016 when Doug Pederson became the Eagles' head coach. Then Nagy left in 2018 to become the Bears head coach.

After Nagy was fired following the 2021 season, he came back to Kansas City as the quarterbacks coach, working with Mahomes again, before replacing Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator this season.

Veach, of course, goes back even longer with Nagy and Bleymaier. Veach and Nagy were teammates at UD from 1998-2000. Nagy was the Hens' star quarterback, setting more than 20 passing records at the time. Veach played running back and wide receiver.

Bleymaier, a wide receiver, arrived in 2002. Veach was a graduate assistant at the time.

Eventually, they climbed the Chiefs' ladder under Reid. And for Reid, it was a no-brainer to welcome Nagy back after the Bears fired him.

"I think Matt’s a great coach," Reid said at the Super Bowl last year. "I think he knows people and handles people well. A good teacher. The players respond to his approach to coaching. He had a relationship with Patrick Mahomes.

"So it was a natural fit to come back here. ... He wanted to come back in and go, and we’re real happy to get him."

Veach, meanwhile, has kept the Chiefs competing for championships every year since becoming the GM. Sure, Mahomes was the starter from 2018 on. But Veach handled the pratfalls of the salary cap, players wanting to get paid, and always picking near the end of the first round of the draft.

Just look at the Eagles' collapse this season to realize how difficult that is.

Veach did it despite trading star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, getting multiple draft picks that he used to rebuild the secondary. The Chiefs have the NFL's No. 2-ranked defense this season. While the Chiefs haven't adequately replaced Hill, they did draft a potential star in Rashee Rice in the second round.

The constant, of course, is Mahomes. Veach acknowledged this last year at the Super Bowl.

"The success in this business starts and ends with the quarterback position," Veach said. "The quarterback, the head coach are the two factors that really determine your success, and your ability to sustain success. So you’re going to exhaust every ounce of resources that you have."

No doubt, Reid will have a big say in picking his successor. Chances are, that will be in alignment with Veach. And all of it points to someone Veach has been close friends with for almost 30 years, and Reid has known for almost 20.

"We help each other out, and he’s been one of my biggest supporters, if not my biggest supporter, along with Coach Reid," Nagy said about Veach last year at the Super Bowl. "It’s been a really cool friendship, and then to have that Delaware connection, there’s something cool about that."

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Amid Andy Reid retiring rumors, are Delaware alums taking over Chiefs?