When Andy Reid was an assistant coach at Northern Arizona in 1986, Dave Toub had recently joined Bob Stulls staff at Texas-El Paso and took Reid out for lunch as a prospective offensive-line coach.
Guess I must have said something good, Toub said, laughing, in a 2016 interview with The Star. We hit it off, too, right away.
From El Paso to Columbia, Missouri, to Philadelphia, theyve worked together nearly ever since, with the exception of Toubs stint in Chicago from 2004-2012 before he rejoined Reid in Kansas City as special-teams coordinator.
Other than Reids son, Britt, the Chiefs linebackers coach, and whatever the exact timing was of some cameo appearances from then-interloper Steve Spagnuolo, nobody on Reids staff has known him longer.
Certainly, no one has spent more time working directly with Reid, and few have more firsthand appreciation of Reids coaching journey.
So pardon Toub if he gets sentimental at the prospect of Reid coaching the Chiefs to victory in the AFC Championship Game against Tennessee on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium and the potential for Reid to then win his first Super Bowl.
Ive thought about this a lot. Nobody deserves it more than Andy. Hes such a great coach Toub said Thursday. I dont know if Id stop crying. Id probably hug him forever.
Toub wouldnt be alone.
Right alongside, perhaps weeping and at least figuratively embracing Reid would be plenty in a city looking for its first Super Bowl victory, or even appearance, in 50 years. And you can bet an organization that Reid revived and his players, whom Reid is known for treating as grown men, would feel the same.
It would be amazing, obviously, said quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who laughed when then asked if hed be happier for himself or Reid. Id probably be happier for him, for sure. But I think I (would) be pretty happy, too, for myself.
Elated, too, would be people Reid grew up with in Los Angeles and fans from Dick Vermeil to Stull and those on his considerable coaching tree. So would legions of former players and their families, like the ones hes stayed close with from Mizzou and doubtless from his days with the Eagles. And, heck, maybe even some who played for him in his first full-time coaching gig at San Francisco State where Reid and former Tampa Bay coach Dirk Koetter sold hot dogs amid campus protests to supplement the football budget and taught classes and took 10-hour bus rides and made about $22,000 a year.
For that matter, many Eagles fans with whom I grew up or went to college are among others in the Philadelphia area on Team Reid, as are plenty of national NFL broadcasters and perhaps others in the sports media he once wanted to be part of to the point he wrote columns for the Provo Daily Herald when he was a senior at Brigham Young.
There are plenty of reasons for this outpouring, of course. Starting with the fact that Reid is a genuinely decent and empathetic person, something thats evident in how he deals with all people and perhaps can be glimpsed in his engagement with Special Olympics Missouri.
And because its understood hes a terrific coach, with the seventh-most wins in NFL history, the sort of steady presence from which the team took its cue to not panic when down 24-0 in last weeks 51-31 AFC Divisional victory over Houston and a vibrant offensive mind further animated by his synergy with Mahomes.
Hes like a magician when hes calling plays. Even at practice, hes calling plays and just drawing them up like hes (Harry) Houdini or something, receiver Tyreek Hill said of Reid.
