The season may be over for the Kansas City Chiefs, but 67-year-old Andy Reid is ready to brave his 13th year already. Retirement has been a routine question Reid is conditioned to answer at the end of every season for the past few years now. This season, too, was no different. 

On Monday, Chiefs Digest reporter Matt Derrick pursued Reid on said lines: “Is there any scenario that you can imagine where you’re not back as head coach next year?”

“No. Listen, I think I’m coming back, right?” the head coach responded. “If they’ll have me back, I’ll come back. You never know in this business, Matt. So, that’s a tough one, but I plan on it.”

Despite the fact that the team is entering a transitional phase, Andy Reid standing with the Chiefs was never a contention in the first place.

After leading the Chiefs to the playoffs for 10 straight seasons, one cursed season surely won’t force the top brass to push Reid out the door. He remains a top-class game planner, who likes to pick defenses apart with schematic choices. The numbers speak for themselves, too.

Reid’s portfolio at Kansas City doesn’t just include three Super Bowl wins. With a 149-63 regular season record and 28-17 postseason record over 13 seasons, Reid’s total wins rank fourth in NFL history and first among active head coaches. In fact, he is also the first head coach to become the winningest for two franchises (Kansas City Chiefs and 130 for the Philadelphia Eagles). He signed a contract extension in April last year, which is set to pay him more than $18 million per year through the 2029 season.

So, expectedly, Chiefs won’t opt for a Jon Gruden-like haul to acquire a coach. And carrying a legacy that is deserving of patience from all parties involved, including the fans, Reid is actually well positioned to relish the challenge of turning the Chiefs into a championship contender once again with a full offseason at his disposal.

What could help is possibly reimagining their offensive style. Instead, they can look at bringing a new voice as an offensive assistant to help bolsters their chances at bringing home the Lombardi Trophy while they still have the best quarterback of his generation in the prime of his career. 

All that said, it stings that, at 6-10, it was not just them clinching their worst record under Reid. It was their first losing season under him, too.

The cracks were building all season, but the collapse didn’t come until Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers when franchise quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL to end his season early in the process. It was a double blow as they got knocked out of the playoffs with a 16-13 loss and a diagnosis that gutted the Chiefs fandom. With veteran players potentially retiring, including Travis Kelce, Reid has his work cut out for him this offseason. 

For owner Clark Hunt, everything starts with Coach Andy Reid

Clark Hunt had little to no doubts about Reid and his quarterback leading the pack.  

“I would never bet against Coach Reid and Patrick Mahomes,” Hunt noted on the Defending the Kingdom podcast. “As we look forward from an optimistic standpoint, we’ve got great leaders. That starts with Coach Reid.”

The Chiefs view this season as a catastrophic circumstance, not a systemic failure. General Manager Brett Veach, extended through 2029 alongside Reid, built his entire tenure around the Reid-Mahomes partnership. Breaking that up after just one injury-plagued season won’t make a lot of sense. Meanwhile, Mahomes is attacking his recovery like you’d expect.

Coach Reid also confirmed that the quarterback may not be travelling for the Week 18 season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders. As for the future, it doesn’t look like Kansas City will blow it up. Reid’s staying, and the Chiefs are betting the future of their dynasty on continuity, as they should. Whether their faith survives the storm is a question for another day.