The Chiefs have overhauled key players in their offensive linemen positions and according to the players offensive line coach Andy Heck has been crucial.
The Chiefs will be making their fourth trip in five years to the Superbowl when they take on slight favorites the San Francisco 49ers.
Kansas City have seen changes to the o-line bringing in Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Orlando Brown.
Humphrey, speaking on behalf of the linemen was full of praise for Heck.
“Coach Heck is one of the best coaches in the game, for sure,” Humphrey told NFL.com.
“He does a great job teaching us things, installing different schemes, things like that. He just does a really good job with it.
“He’s been around coach (Andy) Reid for so long, they have a great relationship, they know how to work well together. They’ve brought in the right guys, too. They’ve brought in a group that has created a good culture in the core group and then adding in new guys, that seems to be a seamless transition because of Heck.”
Heck joined the team when head coach Andy Reid signed on in 2013 and has not looked back since.
When Andy Reid took over the Chiefs as head coach in 2013, Heck came aboard and has been a rock on the staff ever since.
“One of the best things about working for coach Reid — he’s the best boss I’ve ever had — is the stability,” Heck said this week.
“You know what you’re going to get every day. The fact that he tells the players, ‘Hey man, let your personality show.’ He empowers all the people on this team, whether it’s a player or coach, to do your thing. That means a lot. … Over time, you get to where you feel like you could read the guy’s mind. I know what he’s going to like or what he’s going to want.”
Heck feels like these players are a team that will play together and win together, and that passion is what drives the team.
“I try to keep things consistent,” he said. “When guys come into our room, there is a standard set of we communicate a certain way, we teach them our system, we encourage them to have a voice — so there is a give and take.
“There is no magic to it. You just go through a healthy process of teaching and, learning, and correcting and let’s go out to work every day. And when you bring in the right kind of people, people that love to play football, it’s an easy process. Then when you have leaders like Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, or even if you go back a few years, brining in a veteran like Mike Remmers. These are guys that show young guys or new guys ‘this is how we do business here’ and people gravitate to that.”
If the Chiefs can keep the 49ers offense quiet and win their third Superbowl in the last five year, it will have been a Heck of a job.
