Andy Reid has one regret about the Chiefs’ rollercoaster 2023 season, which culminated in Kansas City with the team becoming the first to repeat as Suρer Bowl champions in over two decades.

Reid told Colin Cowherd on Thursday’s episode of “The Herd” that when Travis Kelce notoriously bumped him in a sideline dispute during the Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the Suρer Bowl, he should have swung at the star tight end.

Did the media overanalyze Kelce’s sideline spat with Reid?

“I didn’t see him coming, or I would have forearm ripped him,” he stated. “But he got me.”

Reid was of course joking. He has frequently stated that his and Kelce’s altercation had no long-term impact on their relationship, despite the fact that a contrite Kelce publicly accepted blame for the event. Reid reiterated that stance Thursday, saying with Cowherd that the public reaction to his and Kelce’s feud was “overblown.”

“I love his passion,” Reid added. “He’s constantly telling me, ‘Fire me up!’ so I’m rough on him. He’s like one of my children. I try to remain on top of him and ensure that he is correct, because he is our team’s personality. As wonderful a leader as Patrick [Mahomes] is, everyone followed Kelc’. When he gets excited, everyone else does as well. Listen, do things become a little crаzy? Yes, they become a little insаne. But that’s why the job is so good. His job is excellent. My job is amazing. We will not be put in the back of a police cruiser for arguing with each other. That is not what is happening.

Reid is now a three-time Suρer Bowl champion, thanks in large part to Mahomes and Kelce, establishing his reputation as one of football’s finest head coaches — particularly оffensive-minded head coaches. Reid is well-known for creating new play concepts from a variety of sources, including a repeat of a mid-century college football game and the Pop Warner youth football league.

“If it looks good, we’ll try it,” Reid remarked. “I have wonderful coaches and clever folks. I have these young boys with brilliant minds. So they put things together, knowing they have the entire form to pull from. ‘Let us try it. Who said it was impossible? And then Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and these оffensive players will contribute a play here and there; they have amazing minds. Overall, everyone gets a piece of the pie and feels good about it, and we aim to execute it at Mach speed.”

Mahomes and Kelce were also two of the main reasons Reid said he never lost faith in the Chiefs’ ability to repeat as Suρer Bowl champions, even when Kansas City’s usually-powerful offence struggled numerous times during the 2023 regular season. Reid even took an opportunity to mock two experts who questioned the Chiefs during the season: Cowherd and his co-host Jason McIntyre.

“You’re letting Jason influence you, man,” Reid said Cowherd. “After this conversation, he is going to put on some red and join the bandwagon.” … [When] you’re a quarterback, your sweet spot is inside those numbers, and we’ve got one of the greatest at it in Kelce. Kelce has always had a ‘Sundance’ next to him, correct? So, using the Butch Cassidy-Sundance analogy, he’s always had that guy to work with, which is critical for working within those numbers. It’s a happy place for quarterbacks. The next step is to find two players who can play outside of the numbers. People were saying, ‘Kelce’s over the hill. No, we just needed Rashee [Rice] to continue growing, and he was so willing to do so, and Patrick was so willing to work with him and never become irritated with him or anyone else, and it worked out.

“We were all hopeful; we just needed to keep expanding. And we saw it the year before with our defence; our secondary was a group of young guys who just kept getting better and better, and by the time we got to the playoffs, we were on fire.”

The Chiefs are full of well-earned confidence moving into 2024, so much so that numerous players have publicly discussed the possibility of a three-peat. However, Reid is not buying into that argument.

“That’s not where I’m at,” Reid responded. “Our guys might think about it, or whomever [else], but that is not how I think. I think of it as, ‘Make sure that you’re ready to go.’ When we get to training camp, nothing will change. We are going to go through a process. It may not be simple, but it will lay the groundwork. After that, let’s get ready for the games. … Let’s take [our players’] abilities and maximise them, and we’ll work on the things they’re not as good at and attempt to improve them, and then we’ll roll. Let’s see what we can accomplish.