Iowa Alum Prepares Chiefs for Run at NFL History

PHOTO: CHIEFS.COM Ryan Reynolds creates training plans for the entire Kansas City Chiefs roster, helping prepare the team for extended postseason runs.

The Kansas City Chiefs are vying for a trip to New Orleans next month in pursuit of an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat. Ryan Reynolds (05BS), a former Iowa football strength and conditioning intern, is managing the team’s training to help it get there.

Reynolds, in his second season as the Chiefs’ head strength and conditioning coach, helps build the team’s strength, resilience, and durability throughout the season. He develops a 23-week training plan—from week one to the Super Bowl—for every player on the roster, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce. “It’s your road map,” says Reynolds, who’s in his ninth season with the franchise. “Things happen, the team gets beat up. So, you make modifications as you go.”

PHOTO: CHIEFS.COM Ryan Reynolds celebrates the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory over the San Franciso 49ers last February in Las Vegas with cornerback Trent McDuffie.

Reynolds’ in-season program largely focuses on high-intensity and low-volume workouts that have helped the Chiefs play seven additional games—nearly half of a regular-season schedule—over the past two playoffs to capture consecutive Super Bowl titles. At different points in the season, the Iowa exercise science graduate measures each player’s power, strength, and speed to gauge progress and determine if training modifications are needed.

“When we make deeper runs into the playoffs, the guys are able to maintain their strength and power,” says Reynolds, who also worked in strength and conditioning at Arizona State and UCLA before joining the Chiefs staff.

Reynolds, who is also the team’s director of sports science, uses advanced tools to monitor the team’s strength and conditioning progress. He operates the Chiefs’ player tracking system, in which players wear tracking chips in their jerseys during practice and the offseason that monitor their movement and performance, including metrics like acceleration, deceleration, speed, distance covered, exertion, and fatigue.

Reynolds also uses data on a player’s body composition and athletic power to help determine their optimal playing weight. But as technology plays an increasing role in the field, Reynolds cautions against an overreliance on it. “The number one thing is your coaching eye,” he says. “The problem with technology is that people let the technology tell them something may be different than what their eyes see.”

Reynolds also emphasizes the human element in his relationships with the team. Besides Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, Reynolds is the only staff member to work with each player daily. Those frequent interactions make it vital for Reynolds to learn each player’s personality and earn his commitment to the plan. “You’re always trying to keep buy-in and increase buy-in from the guys on the team,” he says. “It’s developing a relationship with the players. The more they trust you and know that you have their best interests in mind, the more they’re going to buy into you and your program.”

PHOTO: CHIEFS.COM Ryan Reynolds, the Kansas City Chiefs’ head strength and conditioning coach, congratulates wide receiver Rashee Rice last February during Super Bowl LVIII.