How Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Has Such a Lasting Influence on Doug Pederson

The two have had a working relationship dating nearly thirty years, going back to Pederson’s time as a player.

Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick. Mike And Kyle Shanahan. Mike Holmgren and Andy Ried. 

These names each represent coaches and their disciples, a culmination of a mentor and student bond that has been a consistent staple of NFL coaching trees for decades. 

For the aforementioned Reid, his role as a mentor toward current Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson and the relationship they hold is one that will never be broken.

Their journey began in the mid-90’s, when Pederson was a quarterback for the Packers and Reid an assistant coach on Mike Holmgren’s staff. It did not stop there, Reid kickstarted Pederson’s coaching career, with Pederson serving as an assistant on his Eagles staff for three years before becoming the Chiefs offensive coordinator after Reid became their head coach. For the two, their relationship has remained firm for nearly three decades.

“When I first went to Green Bay in 1995 until now—how many years is that? That’s a lot of years,” Pederson said. “That’s 28 years, almost 30 years, so that’s 30 years of my professional life that I’ve been influenced by him, so that’s why it always comes back to him. More than half [of my life]. I’ll be 55 in two weeks.”

Through their bond, Pederson learned a great deal about offensive play calling and what it took to be a successful coach on the NFL stage. Even now, the two still talk throughout the course of the season, with Pederson taking every chance he can get at picking his former mentor’s brain.

“We talk during the season, we do,” Pederson said. “Obviously, this week is different and when we played them a while back, but I owe a lot to Coach Reid, my career, not only as a player but as a coach, and I want to pick his brain and learn. He’s been doing this a long time, and he’s been really, really successful at it. Anything I can learn and take away from him is a blessing for me.”

With Pederson’s Jaguars and Reid’s Chiefs facing off once again this weekend with playoff implications, all eyes will be on the student versus the teacher to see who advances to the AFC Championship game.