Andy Reid coaching tree: Ranking where Doug Pederson, Sean McDermott fall among Chiefs coach’s disciples

Andy Reid has long been one of the best coaches in the NFL. He has solidified himself as one of the best during his decades-long runs with the Eagles and Chiefs.

Reid is a quarterback whisperer with a knack for creating dynamic offenses. He has developed numerous quality starters during his coaching career and helped Patrick Mahomes quickly ascend to superstardom after making him a top-10 pick.

That said, Reid hasn’t just developed players into stars. He has also helped mentor many coaches across the NFL.

Currently, four head coaches across the league have worked on Reid’s staff over the years. Several other notable names and coaches have earned jobs in part because of the work that they have done with Reid.

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Who are the members of Reid’s coaching tree, and how do they stack up against one another? Here’s a ranking of the 11 Reid disciples who have gone on to become NFL head coaches.

1. John Harbaugh

Experience: Ravens (2008-present)
Record: 160-99
Reid has had a few successful coaches come out of his coaching tree, but it’s hard to argue against Harbaugh as the best of the bunch. The veteran coach is the second-longest tenured NFL coach behind Mike Tomlin and has posted just two losing seasons in 16 years in Baltimore. And only once have the Ravens finished with fewer than eight wins under his watch.

Harbaugh is better than 60 games above .500 thanks to his pristine regular-season record and has made the playoffs 11 times. He has an 12-10 postseason record and helped the Ravens to win Super Bowl 47 over the 49ers, who were then coached by his brother, Jim.

Harbaugh’s sustained success and longevity give him the edge over the other coaches on this list, but you can surely make a case that a couple of others could challenge him with a deep postseason run.

But if Harbaugh can get the Ravens another Super Bowl, he will only solidify his place atop this list.

2. Doug Pederson

Experience: Eagles (2016-20), Jaguars (2022-present)
Record: 60-53-1
Pederson’s record might not be good as Harbaugh’s, but he could rival the Ravens coach for the top spot on this list. Why? Because Pederson has a Super Bowl ring from his second season with the Eagles, he has just two losing seasons in seven years as a head coach, and he cleaned up Jacksonville in a hurry despite Urban Meyer’s disastrous 13-game tenure there.

The latter achievement may be Pederson’s most impressive. The Jaguars were coming off a 3-14 season under Meyer and Darrell Bevell before Pederson arrived. In just one year, he has instilled confidence into Trevor Lawrence and turned them into a 9-8 winner of the AFC South.

Pederson has gotten the most out of quarterbacks during his coaching career. Carson Wentz had an MVP-caliber season under him before he was injured; Pederson also won a Super Bowl with Nick Foles and has a 5-3 playoff record.

Should Pederson earn another ring, he would leapfrog Harbaugh on this list. The Jaguars didn’t come close to that in 2023, as their late-season collapse prevented them from making the postseason, but if Lawrence can develop and progress, Pederson could give Harbaugh a run for his money.

3. Sean McDermott

Experience: Bills (2017-present)
Record: 73-41
McDermott has posted an impressive record during his career, but he needs to show more in the postseason before he can reach Harbaugh and Pederson’s level.

McDermott has gotten the Bills to the playoffs six times in seven seasons. That’s an impressive achievement considering that the team hadn’t made the playoffs for 18 years before his arrival. Still, the team has just a 5-6 postseason record and has only made it as far as the AFC championship game once.

Perhaps McDermott will eventually lead the Bills on a Super Bowl run. He hasn’t thus far, but it’s worth noting that he hasn’t exactly gotten lucky with injuries, as his defenses have often been banged up come the postseason.

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As it stands, McDermott looks like the bronze branch of Reid’s tree. He deserves a lot of credit for setting Josh Allen up for success and turning Buffalo’s defense into a juggernaut, but he needs to get to the big game to solidify himself as one of the best.

4. Ron Rivera

Experience: Panthers (2011-19), Commanders (2020-23)
Record: 102-103-1
Rivera has had more of an up-and-down career than the other coaches that rank highly on this list, but he led the Panthers to one of their best seasons in franchise history. They posted a 15-1 regular-season record and made it to Super Bowl 50, all while sporting the league’s top-scoring offense and one of its best defenses.

That said, Rivera has only led his team to a winning season three times during his 13-year head coaching career. Despite that, he has managed five playoff appearances, as his teams have twice won their division with sub-.500 records. That — plus his reputation as a high-character individual and an excellent leader on and off the field — is what made Rivera a long-term NFL head coach.

While Rivera’s time in Washington was hardly great and dropped his career record below .500, he still helped the organization clean up the mess made by Dan Snyder as the scandal-ridden owner departed the NFL. That’s enough to make Rivera one of the more impressive branches of the Reid tree despite his lack of consistent on-field success.

5. Brad Childress

Experience: Vikings (2006-10)
Record: 39-35
Childress’ time as an NFL head coach was strange. He seemed to be on the rise in each of his first four seasons, as he posted a mark of 6-10 in his first season but made two-game improvements in the win column each of the next four years.

In 2009, the Vikings went 12-4 and looked poised to ride Brett Favre to a Super Bowl berth. However, the QB threw an interception late in the NFC Championship Game against the Saints that sealed a New Orleans victory. From there, things fell apart for Childress.

Childress went 3-7 in 2010 and appeared to clash with the organization after cutting Randy Moss just four weeks after the team traded a third-round pick to acquire him. That led the Vikings to fire Childress midseason.

Childress never got another head coaching job and eventually ended up on Reid’s staff again with the Chiefs and Bears before he decided to retire. While the end of his time in Minnesota was strange, he still led the team to two playoff berths and had a winning record with the club.

6. Todd Bowles

Experience: Dolphins (2011 interim), Jets (2015-18), Buccaneers (2022-present) 
Record: 43-58
Bowles only spent a year on Reid’s staff, so calling him a branch of this tree may not seem entirely fair. Still, we’ll include him here given that he does share that thread.

Bowles’ head coaching career got off to a promising start. He led the Jets to an unexpected 10-6 record in 2015 and narrowly missed the playoffs. It looked like the defensive-minded coach had a recipe for success on defense while his offense performed well with Ryan Fitzpatrick at the helm.

Over the next four seasons, however, Bowles failed to log a winning season. The Buccaneers made the playoffs in his first year after supplanting Bruce Arians, but they had just an 8-9 record and were trampled 31-14 at home in the contest.

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In an ironic twist, however, Bowles actually helped the Buccaneers improve after Baker Mayfield replaced the retired Tom Brady in 2023. The Buccaneers won the NFC South going 9-8 and beat the Eagles in the playoffs before being defeated by the Lions.

The improvement for Bowles may have been tied to new offensive coordinator Dave Canales joining the fold and operating a quarterback-friendly offense. We should learn more in the 2024 NFL season, as Bowles was forced to replace Canales, who got the Panthers’ head coaching job, with Liam Coen.

With a regression, Bowles could slip further down this list given his less-than-impressive record. It all depends on whether the Buccaneers go back to an ultra-conservative approach on offense tends to limit the scoring capabilities of his teams.

Still, Bowles is a good defensive mind and has largely found success as a coordinator during his career. Well, so long as he isn’t calling ill-timed blitzes — something the Bucs fans know all too well after Cooper Kupp’s massive catch in the Bucs vs. Rams divisional round of the 2022 NFL playoffs.

9️⃣ TO 1️⃣0️⃣ TO SET UP THE WIN! pic.twitter.com/1hrjkOa4lQ

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 23, 2022
But even so, there is upside with Bowles after 2023. How he does in 2024 will help establish whether that season was a fluke or a sign that he has learned a lot since his disappointing Jets tenure.

7. Leslie Frazier

Experience: Vikings (2010-13)
Record: 21-32-1
Frazier spent four seasons with Reid during the latter’s early tenure with the Eagles. He was the team’s defensive backs coach before he moved on to coordinator jobs with other NFL teams and eventually, into a head coaching job.

Frazier didn’t find a lot of success in his three-plus seasons in Minnesota. The Vikings finished 10-6 in his second full season as head coach but failed to win more than five in his other two seasons, as the team’s defense struggled once Frazier moved into a larger role.

Since being fired in Minnesota, Frazier has been one of the NFL’s best defensive coordinators. He had interviewed for head coaching jobs in recent seasons so he may get another chance to prove himself at that level again. But for now, he is tasked with helping the NFL’s youngest head coach, Mike Macdonald, find success in his first season with the Seahawks. Frazier will be Macdonald’s assistant head coach.

8. Matt Nagy

Experience: Bears (2018-21)
Record: 34-31
Nagy’s coaching career started very well, as he led the Bears to a 12-4 record and a playoff berth and was named the AP’s Coach of the Year for 2018. However, that promising start proved to be something of a mirage.

Nagy’s teams finished with a bottom-10 offense in each of his final three seasons in Chicago. He routinely struggled to get creative with the team’s offense and failed to develop No. 2 overall pick Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. He got a chance to work with Justin Fields as a rookie, but he didn’t utilize the first-round pick’s mobility well at all during his final season.

Nagy has now returned to Reid’s staff and eventually replaced Eric Bieniemy as the team’s offensive coordinator. Kansas City’s offense regressed slightly under Nagy’s watch, so he will serve as a reminder that not every branch of the Reid tree is a good one.

9. David Culley

Experience: Texans (2021)
Record: 4-13
It’s hard to assess just how good of a coach Culley was with only one year of head coaching experience under his belt. It’s even harder considering that he spent that year working for the unstable Texans.

All things considered, Culley did well to get four wins in 2021 with the depleted roster that he had in Houston. Still, the Texans ranked bottom-five in both offense and defense during that season, so they made Culley a one-and-done candidate. Perhaps he could have improved with more talent around him, but we may never know.

10. Pat Shurmur

Experience: Browns (2011-12), Eagles (2015 interim), Giants (2018-19)
Record: 19-46
Shurmur was consistent as an NFL coach, but not in a good way. He had two-year stints with both the Browns and Giants, and he posted a combined record of 9-23 with each team. He only retained a winning record with the Eagles, where he won his lone game as an interim head coach.

Shurmur coordinated some quality offenses with the Eagles and Chip Kelly, and that’s part of the reason that he got a second chance at becoming a head coach. Now, he is back in the college ranks working for Deion Sanders’ staff at Colorado. It doesn’t seem likely that Shurmur will be a head coach again.

11. Steve Spagnuolo

Experience: Rams (2009-11), Giants (2017 interim)
Record: 11-41
Spagnuolo is a good NFL defensive coordinator and was a big part of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl 54 and 56 wins over the 49ers and Eagles respectively. It appears that he is best suited for that type of role after he struggled immensely as a head coach during his career.

Spagnuolo coached the Rams for three years and never had a winning season. The closest he came was a 7-9 record in 2010. In his other two seasons, he logged a combined three wins; the Rams finished with a bottom-two record in each campaign.

So, if you’re ever wondering why Spagnuolo doesn’t get head coaching interviews despite his strong work with the Chiefs’ defense, his history as a head coach explains it all.