Exploring Andy Reid's Impact on the Chiefs with Mitch Holthus

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00:00All right, everybody, it's Adam Kaplan here for SportsGrid, and what a better way to start

00:04off midweek than having the voice of the Chiefs, Mitch Holthus.

00:09And Mitch, I know you've been calling their games for 31 years, but the big reason why

00:15we wanted to talk to you, other than you're obviously going to call the game, is you have

00:18a great perspective because you were there when Andy Rhee was hired as the Kansas City

00:22Chiefs head coach in 2013.

00:24Here's my first question to you right now.

00:28What did you, A, know about Andy, what were your expectations, because things had changed.

00:32Obviously, before Andy got there, he was let go.

00:35So what do you remember, and it's a long time ago, it's 2013, what do you remember about

00:38Andy and what were your expectations early on?

00:41I remember it was December 31, 2012.

00:45We were at the bottom of the ocean.

00:47We were dishes on the Titanic, and eight coaches got fired.

00:52And Andy, I watched, in our hallway, I watched Andy's final press conference in Philly.

00:56Now, what did I know about Andy?

00:58Andy had followed his career, obviously, followed the entire league, was always intrigued

01:01by him.

01:02Like, how does he get the Philly job without being a coordinator or head coach?

01:06And then he flourished in Philly.

01:07But I'm thinking, God, is there any way we could somehow get to first base?

01:13And little did I know, the wheels were already turning.

01:16But then, when he came to us, it was within a week and a half.

01:19Remember the old movie, Pleasantville, where everything's black and white, covered in coal

01:22dust?

01:23People start popping up in color?

01:24That was Andy Rhee.

01:25He started to change our culture within a week.

01:28And so, it's been phenomenal, really, an under-told story of just how much of a 180 Andy has meant

01:34to the organization.

01:35When you talk about culture changer, what does that mean?

01:38Like, from a guy who's been there now 31 years, what does that mean for the Chiefs and yourself?

01:43There is a flow, vertically and horizontally, of understanding, listening, respect, taking

01:52everybody's superpower and try to put it in collectively.

01:55And it's really a confident humility.

01:57And I say that, not as it's a contradiction, but as a cocktail.

02:01And that's what Andy brought.

02:04Within a couple of weeks, he came to me, he goes, dude, who are you?

02:06Like, I go, well, first of all, this is the first time in 19 years a head coach has asked

02:11me about me.

02:12Wow.

02:13But he wanted to know.

02:14Sure.

02:15So, Andy is a connector.

02:16And he gets, and he tries to figure out, you and me, what do we have as assets?

02:22That we put it all together can be the part of the greater deal.

02:26And I found out since then, Andy needed the Chiefs Kingdom as much as the Chiefs Kingdom

02:31needed Andy.

02:32I don't have to tell you.

02:33Because the last year was not, I mean, and to lose Garrett during training camp was brutal

02:39for them.

02:40And he and Tammy had to find, where's our next spot?

02:42Where do we go in the next turn in life?

02:44And he has to make a decision because six teams are rushing toward him, right?

02:48They want him.

02:49And so, but the Hunt family, he went back and told me about a discussion he had with

02:54Lamar Hunt when he got the Eagles job, because he literally was like the stepchild, right?

02:59Walking in.

03:00And one guy reached out to him and embraced him like he embraced, like Andy embraced me.

03:04And it was Lamar Hunt.

03:06So he goes, maybe this is where we go.

03:09And now look what it's turned into.

03:10But Andy's a culture changer because he tries to understand the assets that he has from

03:16every single person and respect that person no matter their job.

03:19I know it sounds trite, but it changed everything in our organization.

03:23I got to ask about number 15, Patrick Mahomes.

03:25Okay, so here's a guy that people said, oh, air raid offense, doesn't transfer to the

03:29National Football League.

03:30Obviously, Mitch, everyone's been wrong.

03:33When you're calling his games, give us just an idea of the excitement of calling a Chiefs

03:37game with him at quarterback.

03:38Well, you have to understand, and again, this is another untold story about how comprehensive

03:45this guy is.

03:47He has his own OTAs before we have OTAs.

03:50What does that mean?

03:51That means if you're going to play with Patrick Mahomes, you're showing up at his place in

03:55Dallas.

03:56He has a place in Dallas and he has his own camp before camp.

03:59Now, they have fun.

04:00They chop it up, right?

04:02Pat pays for all of it.

04:03But if you're going to be with him, because I got to get you up to speed so that when

04:06we hit OTAs, we attack it.

04:09Because when we attack OTAs means we're going to attack many camps.

04:11We're going to attack training camp.

04:13And look at what Andy's September record is.

04:16What Pat has become, Pat and Andy needed Pat, right?

04:19Yeah.

04:20Look what Pat has done for Andy.

04:22But Pat needed Andy.

04:24He was coming out of tech and the Alex Smith Apprentice Year that includes Matt Nagy and

04:29others.

04:30Basically, Pat played Augusta every day without ever playing the Masters.

04:35And that year of apprenticeship where he learns about Andy, Andy learns about him, Andy's

04:39given him algorithms and mathematical problems to solve.

04:44That's what's led to all this.

04:45It's really an amazing story, a long-term story.

04:47That is an incredible story.

04:48So basically, he has OTAs before OTAs.

04:52Yes.

04:53And if you're going to play with Pat, you better have your heart down.

04:56Yes, sir.

04:57All right.

04:58Now, we've got the rematch of two years ago.

04:59Philly versus Kansas City.

05:00What are your thoughts coming up for this game here?

05:02Well, Philly has just proven what a prevailing thought in the league is that you've got to

05:08throw a lot to win.

05:09No, they've just proven that.

05:11Because if you get big plays from Saquon Barkley, he's set an already an NFL record

05:15with six, seven 60-plus touchdown runs, basically, you replace the passing game with home runs

05:22in the run game.

05:23And so, I've been very impressed with them.

05:25The other thing, I'm going to give Harry Roseman some credit, is the fact of how well they've

05:29drafted, especially in the defense.

05:31I've sat there and watched these drafts, and I see them get, Quinion Mitchell might have

05:35been my favorite guy in the entire draft out of Toledo, right?

05:38I loved him.

05:39Or to get Cooper Dejean, who's like in our neighborhood, right?

05:42Ida Grove, Iowa, a little bitty town.

05:45And so, the point is, they've drafted well on defense.

05:48Offensively, they've become explosive in a different way than people go, oh, you can't

05:53win that way.

05:54Yes, you can.

05:55And then, so, I just think this is a really tough Philadelphia team, and they've proven

05:58it.

05:59All right.

06:00For the Voice of the Chiefs, I'm Adam Kaplan.

06:01We'll speak to you soon.

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