The Kansas City Chiefs 2014 offseason program kicks off on Monday and when the team arrives, Andy Reid will be ready and waiting to lead his players in year two as the Chiefs head coach. Before his team reunites for the first time since the end of last season, coach Reid reflected on his leadership tactics, working with Chiefs general manager John Dorsey and much, much more.
Check out the top photos of Chiefs Head Coach, Andy Reid from 2013.
Q: How do you present yourself to the team?
REID: "I think you need to be yourself. Whatever presentation you take to a player, to the team – to the coaching staff first, and then the players second – but whatever you take to them, that it's organized and that you're confident in it."
Q: How do you keep the players engaged in team meetings?
REID: "I think that's a tough challenge. What I tell the guys is, I have these little 3X5 cards and, if I can't get it on that card, they're not going to hear it. They're not getting the same story over and over and over again."
Q: How do you change as a coach?
REID: "You kind of have your base fundamentals that you believe in, but there's always change. You have to maintain some flexibility and that's all part of life. I'm growing older and the players are growing younger. Isn't that how it works? But, you keep it open, you keep it real. Be honest. Those kinds of things don't change."
Q: What do you do in the offseason to grow?
REID: "I think you're always growing in the business. I think that's important, so you don't get stale. I like to read. I like to listen to people that I think have a clue professionally in life, in different businesses."
Q: Do you use a printed playbook or iPads?
REID: "We do both. For the players, they're on iPads, once when they get into the season. This offseason, we might be experimenting with giving them iPads for the offseason program."
Q: How many pages are your playbooks?
REID: "Both of them are actually similar, offensively and defensively. They're probably two inches thick, how many pages that is, I don't know."
Q: What is your working relationship with John Dorsey?
REID: "It's been great. John and I had a history before, and I love his approach. He came in and brought the whole organization together with his personality. He's a tough guy; we all know that, but yet, he's got this personality, where he just includes everybody. Everybody is a part of it. He makes everybody feel a part."
Q: Do you like having less on your plate, now that you have John Dorsey as the GM?
REID: "I love it. For where I'm at in my career, I love it. I loved doing what I did in Philly, but I just wanted to get back into coaching. I hadn't done much of that for a few years and that's why I got into the business. It was great to get back in and dive in and be able to be in the offensive meetings, the install meetings, call the plays and all that stuff."
Q: What do you need to work on to get better next season?
REID: "We need to keep growing. We have to do a better job of coaching to take it to that next level. (We need to) continue to challenge and teach. Those are important things. I thought we were headed in the right direction as the season (went on), kind of after the bye week; those are kind of the primary things."
Q: What about the balance between team rules and letting the players be themselves?
REID: "I guess there are probably parameters that you hit on before that, but for the most part, if the players are feeling too much restriction, you're not going to get their full genius in the right place, so you have to allow them to move around a little. It's kind of like stopping at a red light; we know if we go, there are going to be problems. There have to be parameters or it'd be chaos, but not enough to where you squash the creativity."
