KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During the Chiefs’ 2021-22 postseason run, I asked coach Andy Reid about what the ongoing impact of recently winning his first Super Bowl might be.
Since I unconsciously dangled the word “hungry” somewhere in the question, he turned on the hanging pitch.
“If you like chocolate cake and you eat a piece, and then you have one dangling in front of your face, you’re probably going to want to eat that, too,” said a smiling Reid, ever-inclined to invoke food references. “Not much is going to stop you. I mean, that’s how you feel about the Super Bowl. That is the chocolate cake with the ultimate frosting, and you’re going to try to go get it if you can.”
Alas, the Chiefs weren’t able to haul in what would have been a third straight Super Bowl berth despite taking a 21-3 lead over the Bengals in the 2022 AFC Championship Game.
Since the Chiefs in February won their second Super Bowl in four seasons, though, Reid’s answer about reaching for the chocolate cake remains about the most colorful way to look at the point about motivation and fending off potential challenges — such as complacency — that logically could be lurking.
Yet the real key as Reid sees it, especially at this time of year, is far more mundane than the end reward.
Given the ability to adapt that has made him the fifth-winningest coach in NFL history (two wins away from surpassing Tom Landry for fourth), Reid isn’t strictly a creature of habit. But he’s absolutely all about — even driven by — the day-to-day of building and fusing parts together and teaching.
Yep … the process.
“I think that’s what’s most important: No shortcuts,” Reid said Monday as the Chiefs entered what’s known as Phase 1 of their offseason workout program. “Nothing that’s really good comes easy.
“We know that. … So you’ve got to make sure that you go through the process and do the hard work and build a foundation. All those things become super important. As they are every year.
“So the main thing is you don’t cheat that. Don’t cheat the process. … Don’t skip the work.”
Fundamental and even essential as that might be, Reid knows it might sound dull. Heck, he once described the broader process as “like a washing machine going around and around and around.”
Ho-hum or not, though, that’s at the core of how the Chiefs keep coming around the top of the NFL through the synergy and cohesion among Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes, general manager Brett Veach and chairman and CEO Clark Hunt.
Never mind that the roster still is being formed and many questions remain to be answered less than two weeks from the 2023 NFL draft here in Kansas City. And that there are any number of reasons the Chiefs might not be able to repeat.
A vital part of their journey will hinge on how willing and able they are to again stiff-arm away any contentment and seize the opportunity to make real history.
