Is Andy Reid Mormon?

Yes. Andy Reid, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He joined it as a student at Brigham Young University, where he was baptized on August 2, 1980, and he has talked about his faith all through his coaching career.

Games fall on Sundays, so his faith has to fit around his work. When a game leaves no time for church, he and the Latter-day Saints on his staff hold a sacrament meeting of their own, sometimes with only three or four people. In the middle of an NFL season, a handful of believers take the bread and water together and remember Jesus Christ.

When did Andy Reid become a Mormon?

He was baptized in 1980, while he was playing football at BYU, the church’s own university. He had met his wife, Tammy, in a Fundamentals of Tennis class there, and the Chiefs’ account of his life says his faith “has been an integral part of his life since he was baptized on August 2, 1980, as a junior at BYU.” Parade reported in January 2025 that Tammy’s father performed the baptism, drawing on a 2020 fireside the couple gave for their congregation in Kansas City. Andy and Tammy married on August 8, 1981.

What has Andy Reid said about his faith?

At Super Bowl Opening Night in New Orleans on February 3, 2025, a reporter asked Reid to name his favorite book trilogy. “How about the Bible?” he answered, then added: “The Book of Mormon. Pearl of Great Price. I like ’em all.” Latter-day Saints accept all three as scripture, together with the Doctrine and Covenants; the church calls the four books its standard works.

He spoke about it more directly to reporters the same week. “I went to BYU. That’s a big part of my background of faith. I know there’s a Heavenly Father, I believe in that, so I go forward with that and I know I’ve got that support,” he said, adding that the opposing team has the same support: “He doesn’t pick sides.”

On the church-owned All In podcast, released on March 20, 2024, Reid said “really everything” about his coaching is influenced by his faith, and that he tells younger coaches to keep family and faith ahead of football. Asked what has carried his marriage through hard years, he said that he and Tammy “bank on our faith to get us through that,” and named two examples: “leading by example means that you’re following Christ’s teachings. And, you know, what a great example He was for us. All the trials and tribulations that He went through. Joseph Smith, the trials and tribulations that he went through, these are great examples for us.”

One of those years was 2012, when the Reids’ eldest son, Garrett, died during the Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp. In a statement released through the team, the family said: “In the end, we take comfort in our faith and know that he’s in a better place.”

How does Andy Reid keep the Sabbath during the season?

Games fall on Sundays, so Reid and the other Latter-day Saints on his staff hold their own service. If an afternoon or night game leaves time, they go to church; if not, he said on the podcast, “we do a sacrament meeting amongst ourselves … with the permission of our bishops.” His summary: “We’re never missing sacrament one way or another … it might be with three people or four people, but we’re going to make the thing work.” In the sacrament, members take bread and water in remembrance of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The same habits show in the building. Reid said players watch their language around him, and that music played to the team should carry no profanity: “If you want to listen to it, you’re a grown man, put a headset on.”

What have church leaders said about Andy Reid?

Elder Quentin L. Cook, a member of the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, told its general conference on October 6, 2024, about attending a service with Reid at the Manhattan Second Ward in New York, where five recently baptized members passed the sacrament. The two had met that June at a multifaith event in New York, where Cook thanked Reid and Tammy for their hospitality to missionaries in Philadelphia and Kansas City. Reid said at the event that his membership keeps him steady: “This is a crazy business. I think it’s helped me with my marriage and understanding the importance of my relationship with Tammy.”

Latter-day Saints call themselves Christians. Their teaching about God is not the Trinity of the ancient creeds, and that difference is why Catholic, Orthodox and most Protestant churches count the church as a separate faith. The difference is real. So is the picture of a coach who keeps the sacrament every Sunday of the season, even when his congregation is a few members of his own staff.

Related reading

• Do Mormons believe that Jesus is God?
• Mormonism and Christianity: the main differences
• Latter-day Saints or Mormons: the church and its nickname