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Eagles' Doug Pederson and Bears' Matt Nagy just two of the many branches of the Andy Reid coaching tree

Andy Reid is quite proud of the head coaches he's turned out, including Pederson and Nagy, who will face off Sunday in an NFC playoff game.

Eagles coach Andy Reid (left) with offensive coordinator Brad Childress during training camp in 2004.
Eagles coach Andy Reid (left) with offensive coordinator Brad Childress during training camp in 2004.Read moreAP

Brad Childress was going through some files the other day and stumbled upon a picture of one of Andy Reid’s first Eagles coaching staffs. Might’ve been 2000 or 2001, Childress wasn’t sure.

“The Sean McDermotts, the John Harbaughs, the Ron Riveras, the Steve Spagnuolos, the Leslie Fraziers, the Pat Shurmurs, they’re all in there,’’ said Childress, who was on Reid’s Eagles staff with the aforementioned group for seven years, the last four as the team’s offensive coordinator.

All six of the people Childress referenced in that photo, along with himself, went on to become NFL head coaches.

They are part of the impressive Andy Reid coaching tree, which also includes the Eagles’ Doug Pederson and the good friend he will face off against on Sunday in Chicago, the Bears’ Matt Nagy.

That’s nine former Reid assistants who left the Big Red nest and got NFL head jobs, including six — Pederson, Nagy, Harbaugh (Ravens), Rivera (Panthers), McDermott (Bills), and Shurmur (Giants) — who are current head coaches in the league.

Reid is in his 20th season as an NFL head coach. He spent the first 14 with the Eagles and the last six with the Kansas City Chiefs, who are going to the playoffs for the fifth time under Reid.

His 195 regular-season victories are the eighth most in league history. But he still is trying to win his first Super Bowl, something that two of his former proteges — Pederson last year and Harbaugh in 2012 — have managed to do.

Reid’s influence

But both Pederson and Harbaugh are quick to credit Reid for developing them into successful head coaches.

“I think one of the things that Andy really does a great job of is how well he prepares his assistant coaches to just coach and teach, so that they can sort of hit the ground running [when they get their own head-coaching opportunity],’’ Pederson said. “It’s paid off obviously in my case, and now in Matt’s case.’’

“One of the most important things in any profession is where you start,’’ said Harbaugh, whose team is in the playoffs for the seventh time in his 11 years as the Ravens’ head coach. “If you start with people who do it the right way — good people teach you the right things — it just gives you a chance, gives you a leg up.

“Andy, for me, was a big part of that in every way. I learned a great many things from him, and watching his tape now, I still learn a great many things from him.’’

Reid is extremely proud of how many of his assistants have gone on to head-coaching jobs. Even prouder than his 195 career victories.

But with Nagy’s Bears and Pederson’s Eagles playing each other this week, he politely declined to talk about it.

“I’m staying away from saying anything about those two this week,’’ he said in a text. “You know I love both of them, but want to stay out of their time and space this week.’’

Pederson, a former NFL quarterback, joined Reid’s Eagles staff in 2009 as a quality control coach, which is the football equivalent of the mail room.

He was promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2011. When Reid was fired by the Eagles after the 2012 season and took the Chiefs job, he made Pederson his offensive coordinator.

Starting at the bottom

Nagy, a former University of Delaware quarterback, joined Reid’s staff in 2008 as a coaching intern, which is about three floors below the mail room. But he worked his way up to coaches’ assistant, before replacing Pederson as the offensive quality control coach in ’11.

Reid hired Nagy as his quarterbacks coach when he got to Kansas City. When Pederson left after the ’15 season to take the Eagles’ head-coaching job, Nagy replaced him as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator. Two years later, the Bears came knocking, and the Reid coaching tree grew another branch.

Nagy is the leading candidate for NFL coach of the year after the Bears’ worst-to-first turnaround in his first season in Chicago.

He said he has relied heavily this season on the lessons he learned during his decade with Reid.

“Coach is a guy that is persistent with details,’’ Nagy said. “He’s not a guy that talks about it now and then.

“One of the things I’m learning here my first year is that he taught me things indirectly even without me knowing he was teaching me something. So I just instinctively go back to [when I worked for him] and say, OK, this is how I need to do this, or this is what I should do.

“It’s not a deal where I wrote it down and said, when I get [a head-coaching opportunity] I’m going to do this. Because you trained under him, you just know how to handle certain situations. Whatever it is. Off-the-field problems. On-the-field problems. Any issues with anybody.’’

Coaches don’t like to lose talented assistants. But Reid always has done everything he could to help his assistants advance their careers.

When Harbaugh, who was the Eagles’ longtime special-teams coach, was having trouble getting teams to take him seriously as a head-coaching candidate, Reid encouraged him to give up his special-teams responsibilities, even though he was one of the league’s top special-teams coaches, and coach the team’s defensive backs. The move worked. A year later, the Ravens hired him.

“One of the things that Andy kind of instilled in assistant coaches is just a work ethic, a drive,’’ Pederson said. “You have to put in the hard work and preparation.

“I say that a lot to the players, but I’m also speaking to the coaches. You have to spend time in studying your opponents, especially as play-callers. If your assistant coaches aren’t prepared and detailed during the week, it’s going to carry over to their position. And sometimes, that can affect the outcome of the game.’’

Belichick’s tree not as leafy

Bill Belichick also has an extensive coaching tree. But few of them have been successful as NFL head coaches.

Nick Saban, who was Belichick’s defensive coordinator with the Browns for four years in the 90s, is one of the most successful college coaches in history. But he was 15-17 in a two-season stint with the Dolphins before deciding the pro game wasn’t his cup of Southern Comfort.

Belichick has turned out more Eric Manginis and Romeo Crennels than he has Bill O’Briens.

“I think a lot of them try to take on his persona,’’ said Childress, who spent five years as the Vikings' head coach, taking them to the playoffs twice. “The problem is, there’s only one Bill Belichick.

“There’s nothing phony about Andy. He’s a thoughtful guy. He has a great sense of humor and he’s a great teacher. A really, really great teacher.’’

Many of the head coaches Reid has turned out started, like Pederson and Nagy, at the bottom and worked their way up. Spagnuolo, who was the Rams’ head coach from 2009 to 2011, had been coaching in NFL Europe when Reid hired him as a defensive assistant in ’99.

McDermott, who took the Bills to their first playoff appearance in 18 years in 2017 in his first season as head coach, worked an assortment of low-level jobs on Reid’s staff, including quality control, scouting administrator, assistant to the head coach, defensive assistant, and assistant defensive backs coach before finally getting his big break as the team’s secondary coach.

Childress said Reid likes ambitious coaches. He prefers assistants who aspire to run their own ship some day.

“If you’re hiring a trainer, you don’t want to hire a guy who wants to be an assistant trainer,’’ Childress said. “You want to hire someone that wants to be a head trainer.

“Same with assistant coaches. You want people that aspire [to be head coaches]. They’re going to do everything. They’re going to pay attention to details. They’re going to watch how you do it and [ask themselves’, Hey, what would I do different? What would I do the same?

“Andy always has looked for those kind of guys who’ve had those type of aspirations.’’

Figuring the Eagles

— The road hasn’t been a big difference-maker in the first round of the playoffs. In the last five years, road teams have won 10 of 20 wild-card games.

— Five hundred fifty-seven of the Eagles’ 1,037 offensive plays this season, or 53.7 percent, were run with 11 personnel (1RB, 1TE, 3WR). They used 12 personnel (1RB, 2TE) 37.1 percent of the time and 13 personnel (1RB, 3TE) 8.8 percent. They threw out of 11 personnel 64.7 percent of the time and out of 12 personnel only slightly less — 61.3 percent.

— In Nick Foles’ three late-season starts, the Eagles used more 12 and 13 personnel. They used two- and three-tight end sets on 50.7 percent of their offensive plays (104 of 205) in those three games.

— Foles has a 128.5 passer rating in the last three games with 12 personnel, including an 86.7 completion percentage and four of his six touchdown passes.

— Eagles quarterbacks have thrown 20 touchdown passes this season with 12 and 13 personnel and nine with 11 personnel.

— Tight end Zach Ertz, who set the NFL single-season record for receptions by a tight end (116), has had more than 38 receiving yards just once in the last four games (110 against Houston). He didn’t have a catch for a first down last week for the first time this season.

— Opponents have averaged 5.91 yards per carry against the Eagles in the first half this season (165-975). In the second half, the Eagles have held opponents to 3.43 yards per carry (167-573).

— The Eagles have the worst turnover differential (minus-6) of the 12 playoff teams. Only three of the 12 teams in the postseason don’t have a positive turnover differential — the Eagles, the Ravens (minus-3), and the Titans (minus-1).

— The Eagles ran 77.8 percent of their offensive plays out of shotgun this season. That’s far and away the most in Doug Pederson’s three years as head coach. They used shotgun 69.7 percent of the time last season and 65.9 percent in 2016. They have averaged 4.1 yards per carry running out of shotgun this season and 3.6 from under center.