Andy Reid stood at the podium after a Week 16 loss, facing a question he hadn’t faced in 13 years. How does it feel to guarantee a losing season? The 67-year-old coach who’d built a three-ring dynasty in Kansas City looked older than usual. Four straight losses, six wins, nine losses, playoff hopes gone since Week 15. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Yeah, nobody likes losing in this business,” Coach Reid said after the loss. “My hat goes off to the guys that put together all these years, that’s part of it. We can learn from it and need to do that going forward. Sometimes a good kick in the tail helps you, coaches and players.”

Andy Reid’s been here before, just not in Kansas City. Twenty-seven years as a head coach in the NFL, and losing seasons remain rare for him. He’s had three throughout his time with the Philadelphia Eagles, and his 27th year just handed him his fourth. But standing there after the Tennessee Titans embarrassed his squad 26-9, Reid wasn’t making excuses.

But this latest collapse wasn’t one disaster. It was everything at once. Starting with one-score games, KC went 1-7 in tight contests after going 12-0 in those same situations during their 2024 title run. This season, their late-game execution has vanished. The run game has been brutal all season. In Week 16, that culminated in three running backs combining to rush for just 34 yards.

Then the injury bug hit hard. Franchise quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and LCL in Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Surgery followed, and he’s now in rehab awaiting a 2026 season return. Gardner Minshew had an opportunity to step up in Week 16, but he too left the game with a knee injury and is feared to have the same injury as Mahomes.

The Chiefs’ kingdom has watched it all this season. Their franchise quarterback went down, and their season flatlined. Miscues when games hung in the balance killed them; close losses piled up. No surprise the fanbase is fuming, and some are even calling for Andy Reid to walk away. But is that going to happen?

Andy Reid and the coaching staff’s Kansas City future

Retirement talk naturally started bubbling up around Andy Reid as the season went South. A losing season at 67? Maybe Reid’s slipping, and it’s time for a change. But even if the Chiefs Kingdom feels that way now, there doesn’t seem to be any chance of that happening. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero have shut that down fast.

“Legendary coach Andy Reid isn’t getting fired, and people who know Reid well say he has given no indications he’ll walk away at age 67” noted Pelissero and Rapoport. “For the first time in years, he’ll finally have a full offseason to recharge. As one person close to him said: ‘Coach Reid ain’t going out like this.’ Another said simply: ‘He’ll be back.’”

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Reid signed an extension back in 2024 and is most likely going to stick around all the way through 2029, overseeing the rebuild himself. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, on the other hand, might be a different story. Nagy declined a contract extension earlier this year and had also interviewed for the New York Jets’ head coaching spot. Now, he is reportedly getting a lot of interest from the Titans to be their head coach. If he bolts, Reid needs a new play-caller.

For now, there are still two games left. After that looms the earliest offseason Kansas City has seen since the 2014 season. Mahomes is rehabbing, and roster decisions loom large. The Chiefs, who rattled off nine straight AFC West titles, now face tough questions about their Super Bowl window.

But Andy Reid will be the one answering those questions. That “kick in the tail” he mentioned? He believes it. Next season will tell us if this collapse can fuel a comeback.