Kansas City coach Andy Reid and San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan are both on the verge of their first Super Bowl titles as a head coach.
Reid has been a head coach in the NFL for the past 21 seasons, while Shanahan, a former Falcons offensive coordinator (2015-17), is in his third season as a head coach.
Several Chiefs have said that they want to win the Super Bowl for Reid. While the coach appreciated the gestures, Reid made it clear that their effort was about the team.
“This is not about one person,” Reid said.
Shanahan, who performed a role in the Falcons’ collapse from a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI, will have full control this time.
Reid’s defensive coordinator is Steve Spagnuolo, while Shanahan’s is Robert Saleh.
“Kyle comes at it a little bit differently,” said Fox analyst Troy Aikman, winner of three Super Bowls and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “I really have great respect for what he does. ... That style has won a lot of football games in the history of our sport.”
The 49ers rode their rushing attack to the Super Bowl.
“I think we are starting to see teams morph back into, ‘We need to run the ball more and be more physical,’” Aikman said. “It’s more diverse. It’s very complex. ... They run just about all of the run schemes that there are. There is a lot of play-action.
“He goes into the game with two or three different game plans. They start the game and find out how the defense is going to play them, and they throw a couple of them out and then lock in on what they are going to run and off they go.”
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