Andy Reid helped pave the way for young coaches

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Andy Reid was a young, offensive-minded coach who hadn’t even been a coordinator when Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie hired him to lead a franchise out of despair 23 years ago.

Now, Reid and three much younger, offensive gurus are the last coaches standing.

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The NFL’s Final Four teams each feature a head coach with a strong offensive pedigree who took different paths to reach this point. Reid just happens to be two decades older than all of them.

The 63-year-old Reid leads the Kansas City Chiefs to their fourth straight AFC championship game against 38-year-old Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals in the first game Sunday.

In the second game, 42-year-old Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers visit 36-year-old Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams for the NFC title.

It’s become a trend for NFL owners to give younger assistants their first head coaching job instead of hiring former head coaches. Six of the seven coaches hired last year were first-timers, including five under 45 years old.

On Thursday, the Denver Broncos chose Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to be their head coach and the Chicago Bears selected Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as their guy. Hackett is 42, Eberflus is 51. Both will be first-time head coaches.

Reid, who guided the Eagles to four consecutive NFC title games in the early 2000s, won his first Super Bowl two years ago. Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prevented the Chiefs from repeating last year.

Head coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on from the sidelines against the Buffalo Bills during the fourth quarter in