Christy O'Connor: How great coaches like Andy Reid can shape the future

Coaching trees in the NFL have often been over-rated but Reid’s has borne some of the richest fruit imaginable

INSPIRATIONAL FIGURE: Kansas City Chiefs’s head coach Andy Reid leads his team to successive Superbowls on Sunday. Picture: Harry How/Getty

When the race to the Superbowl began heating up in last month's AFC Divisional play-offs, the narrative inevitably turned to Andy Reid’s incredible coaching tree, and of how long the roots had grown, and how far the branches have now reached.

Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs, the holders, will play in successive Superbowls on Sunday but Reid had to negotiate his way past teams in January led by head coaches he mentored and fostered.