Andy Reid tips former Seahawks head coach as best coach ever

Andy Reid is one of the best coaches in the NFL. He has led two different organizations to the Super Bowl, and he has won three with the Kansas City Chiefs. Part of the reason he has won with the Chiefs is because he has had Patrick Mahomes. Part of the reason Mahomes has been so successful, though, is because he has had Andy Reid there to make him better. Reid likely would have won at a high level with Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Geno Smith too.

Asked recently on a podcast called Y's Guys - a BYU sports podcast - who Reid thought about certain coaching trees, Reid named his own. But not as who he has helped make into a head coach, but more about who he learned from. Reid is humble that way, it seems.

Reid started his NFL coaching career with the Green Bay Packers in the early 1990s. The coach of the Packers at the time was Mike Holmgren. The staff also consisted of Jon Gruden and Steve Mariucci as well. There was a lot of talent to learn from for Reid.

Andy Reid says former Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren is best NFL coach ever

But no coach seemingly taught him better how to become a head coach than Holmgren. Of course, after leaving Green Bay, Holmgren became the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, and the coach would lead Seattle to its first Super Bowl appearance. The Seahawks lost Super Bowl XL, but maybe more so because of the officiating than Holmgren's coaching.

Holmgren coached longer in Seattle than he did in Green Bay, so 12s might rightfully feel he was a more important part of the Seahawks than he was the Packers. In his ten seasons as head coach, Holmgren led the Seahawks to the playoffs six times. He left in 2008 and was replaced for one year by Jim Mora who had no business being the head coach in Seattle.

Andy Reid said of Holmgren on the podcast, "I felt like Mike Holmgren...nobody did it better than he did at this level, and I still feel that way today. I mean...he was an amazing head football coach and I think he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and should be in the Hall of Fame."

That is high praise for a coach with only one Super Bowl ring, but who is to debate Reid? He clearly knows what it takes to win at a high level and maybe he never learns that without having worked with Mike Holmgren.

12s might consider themselves fortunate as well. Between 1999 and 2023, Seattle only had three head coaches, and for only one of those seasons, the coach wasn't Mike Holmgren or Pete Carroll. That is a great run for any franchise. Seattle also has gone to three Super Bowls since 2005 so no complaints there either.

More Seattle Seahawks coverage: