Andy Reid

Andrew Walter "Andy" Reid (born March 19, 1958) is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, a post he has held since 1999. Since 2001, he has also been the team's executive vice president of football operations. He led the Eagles to five NFC championship games, including four consecutive appearances from 2001-2004, and to Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004.

Early life
Born in Los Angeles, California, Reid attended John Marshall High School and worked as a vendor at Dodger Stadium as a teenager. He also played youth sports in Los Angeles, and among his coaches were Pete Arbogast, who is the radio announcer for the USC football team, and formerly the radio play-by-play man for the Cincinnati Bengals. In 1971, at age 13, Reid appeared live on Monday Night Football during the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition. Reid played offensive guard and tackle at Brigham Young University for head coach LaVell Edwards.

Early coaching career
After graduating from BYU in 1981, he spent one year as a graduate assistant on the school's football coaching staff. He spent the next nine years as an offensive line coach with four different colleges, including in 1986 with Northern Arizona University when he coached Frank Pollack, who went on to play for six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He was hired as an assistant coach by the Green Bay Packers in 1992, the same year quarterback Brett Favre became a member of that team. Reid was named the Packers' quarterbacks coach in 1997, the season after the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI.

Philadelphia Eagles coach
The quality of Reid's work with the Packers attracted considerable notice throughout the league, leading to his being hired as the head coach of the Eagles on January 11, 1999. At the time, many in the local media in Philadelphia criticized the hiring, citing the availability of other candidates who had past records of success as head coaches.

Early years
The Eagles, under former coach Ray Rhodes, finished in a three-way tie for the NFL's worst record at 3-13 the season before Reid took over. They improved two games in 1999 to finish at 5-11 (including the team's first road victory in 19 games, a 20-16 win in Chicago on October 17, which was the first time the Philadelphia franchise had won an away game over the Bears since 1933). In 2000, the Eagles reached the playoffs after posting an 11-5 regular-season record.

Beginning in 2001, Reid's Eagles won the National Football Conference's Eastern Division four consecutive times, the longest such streak in franchise history, and advanced to the conference championship game in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, losing this game on the first three occasions. The 2003 team became the first in NFL history ever to qualify for postseason play after opening the season with two losses, both at home, in a non-strike year, and was also the first NFL team ever to reach the conference title round of the playoffs after having been shut out at home on opening day. The 2004 team was the second NFC East squad to defeat all of its division rivals (New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys, and Washington Redskins) twice during the same regular season (Dallas Cowboys did it in 1998). The Eagles made it to Super Bowl XXXIX but fell to the New England Patriots 24-21 in the final minutes.

An off year, the next year redeemed
The 2005 season was a difficult one for Reid, as he was unprepared to deal with wide receiver Terrell Owens's flamboyant persona, which led Reid to permanently deactivate him midway through the season. A couple of weeks later, quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered a season ending injury, leaving the Eagles without the services of both of their star players. The Eagles lost eight of their last ten games and finished 6-10.

The Eagles enjoyed a rollercoaster campaign under Reid in 2006. The season appeared to be lost by October with another season-ending injury to McNabb, turning a 4-1 start into a mid-season breakdown which left the team 5-5. After an embarrassing 45-21 defeat at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, the Eagles were on the verge of elimination from the playoffs. Reid coached backup quarterback Jeff Garcia and the 5-6 Eagles to victories over a slew of NFC rivals including the Carolina Panthers, Washington Redskins, and New York Giants. The Eagles, at 10-6, won the NFC East division title, as well as an NFC Wild Card game against the New York Giants. Their wild ride ended at the hands of an opportune Saints team in the NFC Divisional Round.

Recent years
In the 2008 season, Reid led the Eagles to a 5th NFC Championship game, where they lost to the Arizona Cardinals 32-25. He also coached the NFC to a 30-24 win in the 2009 Pro Bowl.

In the 2009 season, Reid failed to win a first round postseason game for the first time in his career, with his 11-5 Eagles being eliminated by the Dallas Cowboys 34-14 in the wild-card round. Over the off-season the Eagles traded starting quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins. After week 2 of the 2010 season, Reid named Michael Vick the starting quarterback of the Eagles.

As of January 27, 2011, Reid became the longest tenured current head coach, after the departure of former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher. Reid was named the Earle "Greasy" Neale Award winner for the third time in 2010.

Tenure in Philadelphia
During his tenure, Reid has compiled the best win total (120), winning percentage (.609) and playoff victory total (10) in team history. He has captured six division titles and five trips to the NFC Championship game. Since he was hired in 1999, no other franchise has earned more divisional playoff round appearances (7) and only Bill Belichick's New England Patriots have matched Philadelphia in conference championship game appearances (5). Since 1999, Reid has also sent 19 players to 44 Pro Bowl appearances, the highest total for any team in the NFL during that period. None of these players had ever appeared in a Pro Bowl before Reid was hired.

In 2001, Reid was named executive vice president of football operations of the Eagles. He is currently one of three coaches in the league who effectively has the power of general manager, the others being the Patriots' Bill Belichick and the Washington Redskins' Mike Shanahan. Although the Eagles have had someone with the title of general manager since 2005 (Tom Heckert from 2005 to 2010, and Howie Roseman since 2010), Reid has the final say.

Among coaches with 100 games under their belt, Reid’s .609 winning percentage is 11th in NFL history and second among active coaches behind Bill Belichick (.627).

Reid’s twelve-year tenure as Eagles coach has put him in an elite category as well. Since 1990, only six of the 73 first-time head coaches remained with their original team for eight or more years: Reid (since 1999), Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher (1994–2010), Brian Billick (1999-2007 with Baltimore), Bill Cowher (1992-2006 with Pittsburgh), Dennis Green (1992-2001 with Minnesota) and Tom Coughlin (1995-02 with Jacksonville).

With Fisher relinquishing his role as head coach of the Titans on January 27, 2011, Reid is currently longest tenured head coach among active head coaches in the NFL.

Coaching tree
NFL head coaches under whom Andy Reid has served:
 * Mike Holmgren, Green Bay Packers (1992–1998)

Assistant coaches under Andy Reid who have become NFL head coaches:
 * Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings (2006–2010)
 * John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens (2008–present)
 * Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams (2009–present)
 * Leslie Frazier, Minnesota Vikings (2010–present)
 * Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers (2011–present)
 * Pat Shurmur, Cleveland Browns (2011–present)

Personal
Andy Reid is a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Reid met his wife Tammy in a physical education class at BYU. They have five children, each of whom was born in a different state - sons Garrett, Britt, and Spencer, and daughters Crosby and Drew Ann. In January 2007, Reid's two oldest sons were involved in two separate, serious automobile incidents, and subsequently had a number of charges filed against them, including assault and drug possession. In 2008, Reid contributed $2,300 to fellow Mormon, Mitt Romney in his 2008 Presidential Campaign