The college all-star game played Saturday in Mobile, Ala., is called the Senior Bowl, but the game between the Chiefs and Eagles a week from Sunday in New Orleans could be called the Senior Citizen Bowl.
While the Sean McVay effect remains real (see the hirings of 38-year-old Ben Johnson and 39-year-old Liam Coen), coaches who are old enough to be McVay’s father could dominate the Super Bowl.
Foremost among them is Andy Reid. He was once the McVay of his day, the second-youngest head coach in the NFL. Now, at 66, he moves a little slower on his way to the podium to accept his trophies but makes the walk more frequently.
And oldest Andy could be best Andy.
“I really feel after we won the first Super Bowl (five years ago), something changed with Andy,” says Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub, who has coached with Reid for 20 seasons. “There was a narrative out there he couldn’t get over the big one. Once that burden was gone, I noticed he was more relaxed and more open to subtle changes in the way we handled the players.”
Now, Toub says, Reid remains firm on his core beliefs but is more willing to make concessions for youth.
One of the most accomplished coaches in history, Reid is one of five finalists for the Associated Press Coach of the Year and will tell you his coaching staff is one of the reasons he wins so much.
His defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, at 65, will be competing for his fifth Super Bowl ring, and he already has more than any coordinator ever.
After the AFC Championship Game, defensive tackle Chris Jones said the Chiefs will continue to win as long as they retain Spagnuolo. That seems likely, as team owners seem to think that age is more than a number with Spagnuolo, the one-time head coach of the Rams. Before interviewing for the head coaching jobs of the Jets and Jaguars this year, Spagnuolo had not had a head coaching interview in 16 years (besides a token interview with the Giants after he finished the 2017 season as their interim head coach).
Aggressiveness is often associated with youth, but nobody blitzes like Spagnuolo. His corner blitz on fourth down against the Bills in the closing minutes of the AFC Championship Game helped seal the Chiefs’ win.
If Spagnuolo is not the most respected defensive coordinator in the NFL, Vic Fangio may be. Fangio, 66, reportedly is the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the league, and he earned his money by coaching the defense that led the league in fewest yards allowed. The Eagles also ranked second in fewest points allowed, finishing 23 points ahead of the Chiefs.
It’s typical for Fangio, whose defenses have finished in the top 10 of fewest points allowed in nine of the past 13 seasons. Fangio, however, has never won a Super Bowl. He came close in 2022 as a consultant to the Eagles — but Reid and Spagnuolo got the rings that season as the Chiefs beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Last January, Fangio left the Dolphins after one season, with some pushing the narrative that he didn’t get along with some players because he yelled at them to get off his lawn. There have been no such murmurs in Philadelphia, where defensive end Nolan Smith says he is a “mastermind.”
If someone is going to call Fangio, Spagnuolo or Reid old, it isn’t going to be McVay.
“All three coaches have been the standard for what it looks like to be great coaches who connect with their players and maximize their abilities year in and year out while remaining at the cutting edge schematically with the evolution of the game,” says McVay, 39. “Their agility year in and year out while having a commitment to core beliefs and philosophies is a true separator.”
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Super Bowl or Senior Citizen Bowl? Older coaches are having a moment in the NFL
