Roger Goodell: Chiefs' Andy Reid has 'come into stratosphere we all expected'

MIAMI, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday that Andy Reid has come "into the stratosphere we all expected" after the veteran head coach led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl LIV win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Goodell spoke about Reid during the Super Bowl LIV winning team news conference at the Hilton Miami Downtown Hotel. Reid waited 21 seasons to get his first title, the longest for a head coach in NFL history.

The Chiefs hadn't won a title in 50 years, before their dramatic 31-20 comeback win against the 49ers Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

"Coach Reid, one of the great coaches in our league, got his first Super Bowl victory," Goodell said. "Congratulations to coach, who has now come into the stratosphere that we all expected. He has always been one of the greatest coaches in this league.

"He won't admit it, but he has also been one of the great advisers for me. He has been an extraordinary help to me as a commissioner."

Reid, 61, started his NFL coaching career in 1992 as a tight ends coach and assistant line coach for the Green Bay Packers. He got his first head coaching job in 1999 with the Philadelphia Eagles. Reid became Chiefs coach in 2013.

He had a 10-9 record in the postseason, before joining the Chiefs. Reid lost in his only previous Super Bowl appearance, when the New England Patriots beat his Eagles by three points in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.

"It's a great experience, especially doing it with the guys I was able to do it with and the organization," Reid said of winning the Super Bowl.

"We all know that it's not a one-man show. It takes a team to get there, not just the players or coaches, but everybody. That's the part you think about -- all of the hard work everybody has done to get you to this point."

Several Chiefs players praised Reid in their post-game comments after Sunday's win. Some of Reid's former Eagles players also saluted the veteran coach for ending his championship drought.

"Congratulations coach," former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins said Sunday in a Twitter video. "I told y'all I would be shedding tears of joy. I'm so proud of being someone that played under you. You are a friend of mine. I'm so happy for you coach. It took awhile, but you deserved it.

"You blessed so many people and helped them redeem themselves along the way."

Reid signed a five-year contract extension with the Chiefs before the 2017 season. He has a 207-128-1 career record and is 15-14 in 29 postseason appearances. Reid has had at least 10 wins in 14 of his 21 seasons as a head coach. He has only posted a losing record in three of those seasons.

The Chiefs are 77-35 in seven seasons under Reid.