The Kansas City Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in the last four years for several reasons.
Kansas City has one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history in Patrick Mahomes, they have a future Hall of Fame head coach in Andy Reid, and they have a future Hall of Fame tight end in Travis Kelce.
Those are obviously essential ingredients to the Chiefs’ dynasty. But what really makes those ingredients work so well together is Kansas City’s culture.
Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith, a former Tennessee Vols standout, was back in Knoxville this past weekend during Kansas City’s bye week and he joined the Everything Orange podcast to discuss life in the NFL, among other topics.
During the sit-down interview, Smith pointed out that Reid’s insistence that Kansas City’s players show their personality during games and in the facility is an extremely important part of the Chiefs’ strong team culture.
“Our team culture is so unique,” said Smith. “Coach Reid, every time we break it down Saturday before our games in the hotel, he always says ‘hey, don’t forget, let your personalities show’. They let us be ourselves in that building. And I think that’s so important. We’re having fun out there. Obviously, we’re grown men who are trying to get a job done. But at the end of the day, we know we’re having fun beating up people. We’re going to have fun doing it every single time. It’s really special.”
It’s pretty obvious when you watch the Chiefs play that Reid is just fine with letting his players show their personality.
Whether it’s Kelce doing his best WWE impressions or Mahomes talking trash to Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby, it seems like Kansas City always has a little extra juice compared to the teams they’re playing against.
Sometimes the best way to find success in the NFL is by going against the status quo. And that’s what Andy Reid does best — from culture to play calling and everything in between.
