Banner: Andy Reid’s Greatest Achievement Isn’t Measured By Victories

(EDITOR’S NOTE: To listen to Joe Banner, click on the following link: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/eyetestfortwo?selected=BRCM3794522402)

If Andy Reid wins Sunday’s AFC championship game with Cincinnati, he enters rarified air. He becomes the only coach not named Bill Belichick to win 21 or more playoff games and the only one outside the Foxboro area code this millennium to reach three Super Bowls in four seasons.

The record, shall we say, speaks for itself.

Five conference championship games in the NFC with Philadelphia. Five more (all in a row) in the AFC with Kansas City. Fifth winningest coach of all time, with 247 regular-season victories. A winning percentage of .641. Three Super Bowl appearances.

I think you get the picture.

“A difference-making coach,” said former NFL executive Joe Banner.

He should know. As chief executive in Philadelphia’s front office, Banner in 1999 helped hire Reid as the Eagles’ head coach in a move that paid off immediately. Within two seasons, Philadelphia was in the playoffs. Within three, it reached a conference championship game. Within five, it was in a Super Bowl.

Then in 2013, it was on to Kansas City, where he established himself as one of the game’s two most successful head coaches by winning seven straight division titles, reaching the playoffs in all but one of 10 seasons and never finishing worse than 9-7.

So here’s the question: With all that you just read, what is Andy Reid’s greatest accomplishment? Is it measured in wins, losses and championships, or does it go beyond?  We asked Banner when he appeared on the latest “Eye Test for Two” podcast.

“If there’s anybody who’s worked with Andy in any capacity,” he said, “or has the good fortune of being a close friend, he’s one of these people who changes you. 

“His perspective on life, his positive approach, his incredible personal skills … I mean, you know how it is in the NFL: Everybody’s kind of taking shots at everybody. We’re all competing with each other; we’re all type As.  It’s very hard to find many people who are unanimously liked and respected in this league … and Andy is that. And he deserves it. 

“You can’t come up with anything negative to say. He’s beyond good at what he does. And in terms of the character of the man …the work ethic … the integrity … the compassion. I wish everybody had a chance to get to know him.

“To me, the answer would be the person that he is, which includes and contributes to his success in football. But it goes way beyond that in my opinion.”

Banner and Reid spent 14 seasons together in Philadelphia before Banner left for Cleveland and Reid for the Chiefs. Since then, Reid is 117-45, a winning percentage of .722, which is the best anywhere. Over the same span, Belichick is 111-51.

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But remember: Banner said Reid’s greatest achievement transcends won-loss records. It’s that “he’s one of these people who changes you.” OK, then, here’s the next question: How did he change Joe Banner?

“He created a sensitivity in a business,” he said, ”where sometimes you can lose your humanity because you’re just so driven to succeed … People throw out clichés like ‘Good guys finish last.’ Andy disproves that to such an extent (that) it feels like it frees you up to be the principal person that you want to be to conduct yourself with integrity … and still find ways to be respected and be successful in this profession. 

“Despite the fact that he’s had public challenges with his family, I thought Andy was a great father. I can’t really explain … or even want to attempt to explain …the challenges that he’s had with some of his kids. But I saw an incredibly loving, kind, caring father — I think one that anybody who witnessed would hope they were as good being kind and loving to their family and kids as as Andy was.

“In his interview (with the Eagles), it was one of the stories that affected us: He used to wake up at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning, go to work for two hours, then come home so he could have breakfast with the kids every day .Because he wasn’t positive that he’d be home for dinner.

“That’s just who he is, and all of us who were around him had a better balance of what drove us and what mattered in our lives. We saw an example of somebody who could be both compassionate and very, very successful. And I think that’s a good role model for everybody.”