Johnathan Walker:Andy Reid changes the perception of him, one 'nuggies' ad at a time

There was a time,Johnathan Walker even early in Patrick Mahomes’ career, when the first thing that came to mind with Andy Reid was his blunderous decisions at the end of games.

The poor clock management. The ill-advised timeouts he took. The timeouts he, ill-advisedly, didn’t take.

When you think of Reid now, however, it’s a good bet one of the first things that comes to mind is … nuggies. And I dare you not to smile as you think of the Kansas City Chiefs coach trying to steal his star quarterback’s food.

Reid has always been respected in the NFL. Deeply so. He has the most wins of any active NFL coach, and took two teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chiefs, to the Super Bowl. He’s won two Super Bowls since 2020 and could make it a third Sunday.

But his commercials with Mahomes are so entertaining and so endearing, they’ve transformed Reid’s persona among casual fans from one prompting expletives and angst into that of the NFL’s favorite teddy bear.

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“He’s got a look and a way about him that I think is endearing to fans,” said David Schwab, an executive vice president at Octagon who has specialized in celebrity and brand deals for 20 years.

“The hard-core Chiefs fans, they’re going to care more about wins and losses. But that’s not marketing. Marketing is, 'What does the common man or woman think about you? Does the creative (theme of an ad) appeal to me and how I think?' And I think he works for that.”

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To be clear, Reid isn’t acting in the ads. The guy you see is the same guy his players have known — and loved — for years. He doesn’t take himself seriously, favoring Hawaiian shirts or team gear over suits and talking enthusiastically about food any time he’s given the chance.

He doesn’t flaunt his intelligence, football or otherwise, and shows little of the suspicion or ego that can plague coaches when they reach his level of success. Not naming names or anything …

“I didn't realize he was such a man of few words. He says so little, yet says so much. His team meetings crack me up — literally 30 seconds, a minute — and we're off and running,” linebacker Drue Tranquill, who came to the Chiefs this season after spending the last four with the AFC West-rival Los Angeles Chargers, told USA TODAY Sports.

“He's a very routine man, a man who's found a way to get things done in this league and has stuck to it,” Tranquill added. “He's a man of principle, and I've really enjoyed playing for him.”

Reid also has a wry sense of humor and perfect comedic timing. After Taylor Swift made her first appearance at a Chiefs game and Reid was asked what he knew about her relationship with tight end Travis Kelce, Reid said he’d met the pop superstar before.

He then paused before delivering the punchline.

“I set ‘em up,” he said with a grin. “I’ll leave you with that.”

And with that, he left the podium.

“Fans and consumers can really see through inauthentic personas,” said Angeline Close Scheinbaum, an associate professor of marketing at Clemson and co-author of “Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion.”  

“Especially with public figures like this,” she added, “it’s just refreshing to see a human brand, to see these people we usually see in a very serious context, be in a more light-hearted one.”

The best part is Reid came by his career as a pitchman organically. He didn’t do it for money or fame. He did it as a favor to his quarterback.

Mahomes was already doing ads for State Farm, one of his sponsors, and the quarterback was asked if he thought Reid would be willing to join him.

“I was like, ‘Man, I’ll ask him, but I just don’t know if he’ll do it,' " Mahomes recalled during an October 2022 interview with KCSP, a Kansas City radio station.

“When I asked him, he asked me about it. He’s like, 'Do you want me to?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I think it’d be cool for people to be able to see your personality on a different level, on a different scale,' ” Mahomes said.  

That first ad, in which Reid reveals he likes to draw mustaches on his players’ faces while they sleep, has led to several more with Mahomes for State Farm. Reid also appeared on his own in a reboot of a 1996 Snickers ad in which the person painting the end zone misspells “Chiefs.”

“His persona is good and different from others,” Schwab said. “I think that’s what has allowed it to work.”

Schwab said he doesn’t know that Reid’s commercial success will open doors for other coaches because there are already opportunities there. College coaches Deion Sanders and Dawn Staley are in ads for AFLAC, while Jon Gruden, Mike Ditka and even Tom Landry did commercials in their day.

What it could do, Schwab said, is give creative directors the freedom to “write against the script,” showcasing a coach’s humor and personality rather than pigeonholing him into the gruff, tough stereotype of an NFL coach.

Not that Reid cares about any of that. Nor does he care about his increased visibility or the fact it’s made people think of him in a warmer, fuzzier light.

“I don't want to stand up here and sound like a movie star. I'm not very good at that,” he said last week. “But I appreciate people enjoying 'nuggies.' "

Contributing: Nate Davis

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.