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Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Panthers coach Matt Rhule will face off on Sunday, but they once could have been on the same staff, if not for a decision that Reid now calls himself “dumb” for.
For six seasons while Reid was coach of the Eagles, Rhule was an assistant at nearby Temple. Reid’s son spent time as a graduate assistant for the Temple football program, and told his dad what a great addition Rhule would be to the Eagles’ staff, but Reid didn’t hire him, and Rhule took a job on the division rival Giants’ staff.
“Which was a dumb thing,” Reid said, via ESPN. “I should have found a spot. The next thing I know, he’s with the Giants. I was, ‘My god, that was not where I wanted him to go.’”
Reid’s son knew Rhule was going to do big things in coaching.
“My son just kept saying, ‘This guy is an unbelievable football coach,’” Reid said. “‘He’s just so smart. He knows both sides of the ball. He can coach anything. I’m just telling you, he’s a star down the road.’ At the time I had a good staff and I didn’t have room to bring somebody in. There was no space, period.”
Reid has an impressive coaching tree. Five current NFL head coaches (John Harbaugh, Doug Pederson, Ron Rivera, Sean McDermott and Matt Nagy) have been assistants under Reid, and several former head coaches were Reid assistants as well. But Rhule is the one who got away.
