People often forget that Andy Reid did, in fact, coach Brett Favre in the 1990s. Reid served as the Green Bay Packers’ quarterbacks coach from 1997-98, and the two were highly successful. Together, they went 24-8 and even won a Super Bowl in ’97.
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Amid Reid’s most challenging season in recent memory, though, Favre took the time to cover his old coach’s back. This season, the Kansas City Chiefs are 6-6 and on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. If they did miss out on a postseason berth, it would be the first time they failed to qualify since 2014.
That’s why Favre recalled how great a coach Reid is, sharing that his style was easy to play for.
“He is the most simple and easiest coach to understand,” Favre shared on 4th and Favre. “You know where you stand. His offensive mind is brilliant, but it’s very simple. He can dissect a team, not only his own, but his opponent.”
It was high praise coming from one of the greatest QBs to ever play the game. Clearly, one could tell Favre holds a great deal of respect for Reid. And rightfully so, as he’s one of the best to ever do it as well.
Favre even shared that Reid taught him how to watch film correctly: “He taught me how to watch film. And people say, ‘Well, what did he teach you?’”
“And you would think that there’s some exotic way of learning film work… But basically, he said, ‘One guy will tell you on the opposing defense what the whole defense is doing. If it’s blitz, if it’s zone, if it’s two man, if it’s a weak safety blitz, or a strong safety. One guy will tell you. It’s up to you to find that one guy,’” added the former QB.
How does one spot this guy, you ask? According to Favre, you should not look at the veteran defenders because they will never show their hand before the snap. But if you look at the rookies, they are often doing things exactly as the coach wants. While this works for them most of the time, Favre could sometimes use their pre-snap tells against them.
However, it took some time for Favre to believe in what Reid was saying.
“When he told me that, I was like, ‘He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.’ But he did. And when we would watch film, he would walk me through it. Like, all right, let’s find the one guy.”
It sounds like a simple way of approaching the game that eventually resonated well with Favre. That mindset has also allowed Reid to coach for 27 years between two organizations. Today, he is considered one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.
But at the age of 67, one has to wonder how much Reid has left in the coaching tank. His Chiefs teams have been so strong in recent years that it has rarely been a question. Yet, at 6-6 and with an aging roster, it would not be surprising to see Reid start to wind down his career if he cannot get his team back on track.
