Now he's trying to become just the seventh coach to win back-to-back Super Bowls and the first to do so since Bill Belichick beat Reid in Super Bowl XXXIX 16 years ago. Reid spent 14 years as Eagles coach and the first six of his eight years in Kansas City as the guy who won a lot in the regular season but always fell short in the big playoff game. I'll just decide if we're going to go for it on fourth down.' ' Ignoring public opinion 'It was, 'Hey, man, everybody do your job. 'I don't give speeches,' Arians said of his coaching start. Arians went 9-3 as interim head coach before getting the Arizona job the next season. And even that chance came only because Chuck Pagano was forced to step away as Colts head coach to battle cancer in 2012. Leaders who are comfortable in their own wrinkled skin.Īrians was 60 years old with three trips to the Super Bowl as a Steelers assistant when his first head coaching opportunity presented itself. Don't let their grandfatherly exteriors fool you.īoth men are old-school yet open-minded and up to date as cutting-edge offensive minds. He returned a year later with the Bucs because, like Reid, he's still a cutthroat competitor on the inside. At a time when baseball was prohibiting its older coaches from risking their health by coaching in a pandemic, these Geritol Crewmates plowed on despite their ages, and Arians is a cancer survivor who cited health concerns when he retired as Cardinals head coach in 2018. Much credit goes to Arians and Reid as well. I give all the credit in the world to our players for their commitment to each other, staying healthy, and their accountability to the cause, and that cause is to put rings on our fingers.' 'So it's been huge for us to be home and staying in our normal routines for the Super Bowl.

'The whole season has been different,' Arians said. With only the biggest game left, COVID-19 rules will allow only 25,000 fans inside Raymond James Stadium. Somehow, in the middle of a global pandemic, the NFL went on to play the 2020 season - 256 regular-season games and 12 playoff games - without a cancellation. COVID-19's official entry onto American soil had been only 12 days earlier. Much has changed from 360 days ago, when Mahomes rallied the Chiefs from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to a 31-20 victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.įor starters, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami was jam-packed with 62,417 fans, none of them wearing a mask because, well, the public had no idea what was coming. He can do everything.' Weathering a different season He'd also be taking down Brady while building a convincing case that Kansas City has become the dynasty that follows Brady's two-decade reign in New England.Īsked what surprises him about Mahomes, Arians laughed and said: 'What doesn't surprise you? He can do anything. With a win Sunday, the reigning Super Bowl MVP would become the youngest quarterback to win two Super Bowls. The only guy ruining the Geritol Crew narrative is 25-year-old Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. 'I knew what we were missing,' said Arians, who went 7-9 with Jameis Winston throwing 30 interceptions a year ago. The 21-year veteran went 6-3 in Super Bowls with the Patriots - going 1-1 in his 40s - before leaving New England after last season for the talent-rich Buccaneers, who will become the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium. On the playing field, ageless 43-year-old Tom Brady will set, for a third time, the Super Bowl record for oldest starting quarterback. 'But there's no shortcut to this experience thing.' 'Sometimes, are looking for the youngest and 'greatest',' said Bucs quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen, who first coached with Arians at Temple in the early 1980s. The Super Bowl's oldest coaching matchup - combined age: 131 years, 86 days - features Arians trying to become the oldest to win a Super Bowl and Reid trying to top then-54-year-old Vince Lombardi in Super Bowl II as the oldest to win back-to-back Super Bowls. Sounds like a great idea for a Super Bowl commercial, eh, Geritol? I am still part of the Geritol crew, though.' 'Well, I'm not quite 65 yet,' the 62-year-old Reid said, 'but I do appreciate you advancing me just a little bit.

Andy Reid chuckled softly this week when a reporter told him the winning coach of Super Bowl LV will be Tampa Bay's 68-year-old Bruce Arians or Kansas City's '65-year-old' Reid.

Bruce arians past teams coached