PROVO, Utah – BYU football has three former players that will compete in Super Bowl LIV in Miami on Feb. 2. Head coach Andy Reid and safety Daniel Sorensen lead the AFC Champion Kansas City Chiefs while standout linebacker Fred Warner is on the opposing sideline for the NFC’s San Francisco 49ers.
Andy Reid – Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach
Reid, a member of the offensive line in Provo from 1978-80, began his decorated coaching career under Hall of Fame coach LaVell Edwards as a graduate assistant in 1982. It was in that time at BYU that Reid began his association with Mike Holmgren, who served as the quarterbacks coach for the Cougars and went on to his own illustrious NFL career.
After coaching in college for a decade, Reid reunited with Holmgren in Green Bay as an offensive assistant where the two went on to win Super Bowl XXXI. Following his success as an assistant with the Packers, Reid was named the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999 where he spent 14 seasons before becoming the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013.
As a head coach, Reid has won 207 regular season games, only the seventh NFL coach in history to cross the 200 mark. He is currently No. 6 all-time in wins. He is a three-time NFL Coach of the Year, has seven division titles and will be making his second Super Bowl appearance as a head coach and fourth overall.
If Kansas City is victorious, Reid would be the third different Cougar to win a Super Bowl as an NFL head coach, joining Holmgren (Green Bay, 1997) and former tight end Brian Billick (Baltimore, 2001).
Daniel Sorensen – Kansas City Chiefs Safety
Sorensen played safety for the Cougars in 2008 and 2011-13. He played in 51 games, including 39 starts at safety, while also excelling on special teams. He posted 211 career tackles for BYU with 23 pass breakups and eight interceptions.
Following his collegiate career, Sorensen joined the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2014. Sorensen has played in 79 NFL games with 21 starts. He has 265 career tackles and seven interceptions. This will be his ninth postseason game and first Super Bowl.
Fred Warner – San Francisco 49ers Linebacker
Warner, drafted by the 49ers in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft, played linebacker at BYU from 2014-17. He started 42 of his 49 games, posting 264 tackles, 32 tackles for loss and seven interceptions, including two pick-sixes.
As a rookie for San Francisco in 2018, Warner started all 16 games and led the squad with 124 total tackles. In his second year, Warner has ascended into one of the franchise’s most visible leaders, starting every game and totaling 118 tackles, three forced fumbles, three sacks and a pick-six for the NFL’s No. 1-rated defense. This will also be Warner’s first Super Bowl.
BYU and the Super Bowl
- Including Reid, Sorensen and Warner, 43 different former BYU players and coaches have made Super Bowl appearances
- The 43 players and coaches have made 72 total Super Bowl appearances dating back to 1975
- BYU players and coaches have collected 41 total Super Bowl titles
- 13 different players or coaches have won multiple Super Bowls
- Jim McMahon and Bart Oates are the only Cougars to win Super Bowls with two different teams (McMahon – Chicago XX, Green Bay XXXI, Oates – NY Giants XXI, XXV, San Francisco XXIX)
- Tom Holmoe, current BYU director of athletics, has the most championship rings with four – three as a player and one as a coach with the 49ers
- Quarterback Steve Young has three Super Bowl rings with San Francisco and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXIX
- Former linebacker Kyle Van Noy has had the most recent success, with two championships in the last three Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.
Super Bowl LIV will be broadcast on FOX at 4:30 p.m. MT/6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.