Andy Reid is looking to go joint-second all-time for Super Bowl wins as a head coach.
Big Red’s Kansas City Chiefs are heading to the big game for the fifth time in six years and chasing an unprecedented third consecutive triumph.
Reid already has three rings and can move alongside Chuck Noll on four with a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
New England Patriots icon Bill Belichick is out on his own with six Super Bowl victories (as a head coach), and played a massive role in the Chiefs’ recent success.
The UNC coach invited Reid onto his Let’s Go podcast to discuss the game and congratulated his friend for fixing what had been a troublesome offensive line in time for the playoffs.
A big part of the solution has been moving guard Joe Thuney out to the problem left tackle spot to protect Patrick Mahomes‘ blindside.
“Bill let me have Joe Thuney so I appreciated that,” Reid said. “That kid, we have him out at left tackle now. Bill, you had him as an All-Pro center, All-Pro guard, now he’s out there at left tackle and he doesn’t say a word about it. He doesn’t complain.
“That’s a whole different world out there. There’s no security blanket when you’re on that side. That’s a tough spot. But he just steps in and goes.”
Thuney was drafted in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft by Belichick’s Patriots and reached the Super Bowl in his first three seasons, winning two of them.
Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss, he was the first player ever to do so.
The 32-year-old’s versatility across the line was shown when he played as an emergency center and Belichick is a huge fan.
“That’s just the kind if guy he is,” he said. “He’s just gonna line up and play and you’re gonna get his best on every snap. And you know what, it’s good enough.”
Thuney was named a Second-Team All-Pro in 2019 and joined the Chiefs on a bumper five-year, $80million contract in 2021.
He was part of the offensive line that gave up zero sacks in a Super Bowl triumph over the Eagles — the start of the three-peat charge.
The four-time Super Bowl champion was injured for last year’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers
He will now take to the biggest stage for the sixth time in nine seasons as one of the few players currently in the game with more experience of competing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy than the man he protects.
Mahomes has three rings from four trips and can help his personal quest to eclipse Tom Brady‘s legacy with a third consecutive win, something the Patriots legend and his old coach never managed.
He knows he would not be in that position without the men in the trenches — and spoke highly of Thuney earlier this month.
“I mean, he’s played every position on the offensive line and wherever we need him, he’s willing to go out there and do it,” he said on ‘The Drive.’
“And that’s what champions do. They just go out there, they compete for every single snap and try to make their team better.
“So Joe Thuney is gonna go down in the history of football as one of the greatest players with all those Super Bowl rings he has, hopefully we can add to that collection.”
Thuney has been at left tackle since the Week 15 win over the Cleveland Browns — the three-time Pro-Bowler praised Reid and his staff for making sure he was ready.
“It felt good, and my coaches have done a great job preparing this,” he said in December.
“I have a lot of good guys, tight ends and running backs, around me, so they helped me with calls. Mike [Caliendo] was great at left guard, and it truly was a team effort to win and help be my best at guard.”
Follow talkSPORT NFL on Facebook
Follow our talkSPORT NFL page on Facebook for the latest breaking NFL news, exclusive video interviews, and the biggest talking points from around the league.
Our dedicated NFL YouTube channel ‘End Zone’ will also keep you across the very latest NFL news with exclusive access and our weekly ‘Rundown’ review show.
