Reusse: From a no-name hire to the top of the NFL coaching world, Andy Reid goes for ring No. 4

The Minnesota Star Tribune's Mark Craig was talking with Brad Childress a couple of years ago before the Kansas City Chiefs would play Philadelphia in the Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

There had been mild speculation that Andy Reid, then 64, might retire if the Chiefs were to put a second Super Bowl title on his résumé with a victory over the Eagles.

"I guess I could see it, but personally, I think he's still having too much fun playing and experimenting with his new toy," Childress said. "I can see him going on and having five years of fun."

Childress was at his winter address in Florida this week, with his friend Reid and cherished toy — Patrick Mahomes — having defeated the Eagles in that Super Bowl for No. 2, and then the 49ers for No. 3 last February, and now readying to face the Eagles again with a potential No. 4 in New Orleans on Feb. 9.

"I was there with Andy in K.C. when he drafted Patrick, and he was so excited," Childress said. "He's going to ride that horse for as long as possible.

"This is his life, coaching football. He loves it, every day of the week. And mention Patrick … his eyes light up."

Childress had taken a job as the offensive coordinator at Northern Arizona in 1986. He needed a line coach. Reid had that job at San Francisco State (a school that dropped football in 1994). Childress brought him to NAU.

"Andy only stayed one season before he went to UTEP, but we gained a lot of appreciation for one another," Childress said. "It's the coaching world. You're on the same staff and see how a person works … you might go in different directions, but that respect is always there."

That respect leads to reunions, which started in 1999. Childress was the offensive coordinator for Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin. As a long-shot choice, Reid was hired as coach of the Eagles and he hired away Childress from the Badgers.

Childress' connection with the Eagles' success got him hired as the Vikings coach in 2006. He just missed a Super Bowl in January 2010 and was fired that November after a 3-7 start.

Childress was the offensive coordinator in Philly, although Reid was the guy standing on the sideline, studying that giant, two-sided sheet and calling the plays.

"What's on that placard of Andy's?" Childress was asked this week.

He laughed and said: "You sound like Steve Spurrier asking that? He used to say, 'I'd sure like to see what's on that big sheet Andy Reid's holding. I think that would be helpful.'"

Childress laughed again and said: "I can tell you one thing that's always there, circled in the middle on one side — the officials' names. That way, instead of 'Hey, you,' Andy can say, 'Hey, Tom,' which usually will get a better explanation of what 'that call' was all about. He doesn't miss much in preparing for a game."

This will be second time in three years the Super Bowl will feature two teams in which Reid is the career winningest coach for both: 130 wins in his 14 regular seasons with the Eagles (Greasy Neale, second at 63) and 143 wins in 12 regular seasons with the Chiefs (Hank Stram, second at 124 with the Chiefs/Texans).

What has remained amazing from here is how Reid got the job in Philadelphia in the first place. He was an offensive line and tight end coach in Green Bay for five seasons and then quarterbacks coach for two years. He was a 40-year-old without a coordinator's title.

Eagles fans were expecting a big-name hire after Ray Rhodes was fired. They got a no-name.

Bill Lyon, a notable sports columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote:

"The fans and the fan-inflamers wanted someone with experience, someone proven. Give us Parcells, they moaned. Give us Seifert or give us Shanahan. And if not them give us Chris Palmer or Brian Billick or Gary Kubiak. We want a who's who and you give us a who's he."

And now you look back at the coaching staff this no-name Reid was able to assemble in 1999, still the days of many fewer assistants, and are astounded again:

Brad Childress. Leslie Frazier. John Harbaugh. Sean McDermott. Ron Rivera. Pat Shurmur. Steve Spagnuolo. Jim Johnson. Also: quarterback Doug Pederson and running back Eric Bieniemy, veteran players Reid would nurture into coaching.

A quarter-century later — standing on the sideline last Sunday, outlasting and perhaps outsmarting McDermott's Bills in the AFC Championship Game — were Reid calmly studying that play sheet and Spagnuolo feverishly adjusting the Chiefs defense, and Childress watching down there on Florida's Gulf Coast.

You see these colleagues from way back, making the right moves in this age of younger coaches getting more and more glory … does it make an old coach joyous?

"I'm happy for Andy, I'm happy for Spags … I coached with those guys," Childress said. "But I also was sad for Sean — great young guy on our first staff in Philly.

"Plus, let me tell you. That young guy in Minnesota, [Kevin] O'Connell, he's very sharp. The Vikings are going to be fine."

Chilly's probably correct, if young KOC gets himself one of those great toys that has allowed Andy Reid to keep putting fresh ideas on his giant, two-sided play sheet.