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This week, Chiefs Wire's Ed Easton Jr. spoke with retired Pro Bowl center Mitch Morse.
In his interview with Easton Jr., Morse discussed his experience playing for Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and offensive line coach Andy Heck.
"I remember walking into that building and feeling, you know, it's interesting, because Coach (Andy) Reid is very personable, but he also has this presence about him, this aura that is incredibly intimidating for a young football player. You understood when you got in there that it was a professional setting. "I remember he didn't say much to me for a while," said Morse. "The first time I really had a conversation, Coach Reid had allowed me to go with the ones." This is during Phase Three, when we'd do these days: you'd work on your first few opponents and maybe the end-of-division opponents. It was really an opportunity for one-on-one. It was also the first test to do this mystic long drive drill."
The Chiefs selected Morse 49th overall in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft after an impressive college career at Missouri.
"It was my first opportunity to do a long drive drill. He had told me that. I was going to be with the ones, and those long-drive drills are ones-versus-ones for 18 straight plays. I'm getting absolutely cooked play after play after play," said Morse, "I remember it's like play six of 18. Donatari Poe hits me with the most incredible inside move; Alex Smith barely gets the ball out. He's being touched, and I remember Coach Reid, he has that little bit of a disappointed scout mustache, and he looks at me, and he goes, '61' quit blowing your chance. My heart felt like it was going to go to my scrotum, and that happens, and I remember I still have 12 plays. I'm gonna have to call my mom after this, all that stuff. It was also kind of what he does the best, and in Kansas City, that's what you're going to get as a young player. You're pliable, not only physically, but mentally. So you're going to get your trial by fire, and you're going to sink, or you're going to swim, and they do a beautiful job of making sure that you swim. It's just going to be a little uncomfortable for you. There were growing pains for both parties as a young Mitch Morse surrounded them, but it was great."
Offensive line coach Andy Heck has been with the Chiefs since 2013 was an impactful part of Morse's development as a young player.
"Andy Heck is an incredible teacher, maybe one of the great teachers in this business. He had his hands full, coming from a guy who played in a spread offense, playing tackle and going to your first nine-on-seven short-yardage goal line, and I'm seeing guys I didn't even know existed. He would get so frustrated," said Morse, "He was so kind that we would be in meetings, and we would take a break, and then we'd come back, and I would just be messing up what was on the screen, and he'd have to take another five-minute break. His patience, but at the same time, his ability to instill a sense of urgency, understanding, allowing me to understand the gravity of the situation I was in, which was that you had the keys to the castle, you're the center, and all that entails."
Morse was tasked with starting as a rookie, protecting veteran quarterback Alex Smith, and eventually, as time progressed, Patrick Mahomes.
"You have a quarterback who's in year 13. We had just come off a season in 2014 that was maybe the last time the Chiefs weren't in the playoffs, so the stakes were very high and it was stressful. It was conducive to growing as a football player," said Morse, "Andy Heck was a great teacher not only of the technique but also of the game of football, and he fostered opportunities for all of his young players to grow."
Morse played center for 10 seasons in the National Football League for the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Jacksonville Jaguars, earning a Pro Bowl selection in 2022. He also played college football for the Missouri Tigers. He hosts a weekly podcast, Monday Mornings with Mitch, and can be followed on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Mitch Morse on experience playing for Chiefs HC Andy Reid, Andy Heck
Continue reading...
In his interview with Easton Jr., Morse discussed his experience playing for Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and offensive line coach Andy Heck.
"I remember walking into that building and feeling, you know, it's interesting, because Coach (Andy) Reid is very personable, but he also has this presence about him, this aura that is incredibly intimidating for a young football player. You understood when you got in there that it was a professional setting. "I remember he didn't say much to me for a while," said Morse. "The first time I really had a conversation, Coach Reid had allowed me to go with the ones." This is during Phase Three, when we'd do these days: you'd work on your first few opponents and maybe the end-of-division opponents. It was really an opportunity for one-on-one. It was also the first test to do this mystic long drive drill."
The Chiefs selected Morse 49th overall in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft after an impressive college career at Missouri.
"It was my first opportunity to do a long drive drill. He had told me that. I was going to be with the ones, and those long-drive drills are ones-versus-ones for 18 straight plays. I'm getting absolutely cooked play after play after play," said Morse, "I remember it's like play six of 18. Donatari Poe hits me with the most incredible inside move; Alex Smith barely gets the ball out. He's being touched, and I remember Coach Reid, he has that little bit of a disappointed scout mustache, and he looks at me, and he goes, '61' quit blowing your chance. My heart felt like it was going to go to my scrotum, and that happens, and I remember I still have 12 plays. I'm gonna have to call my mom after this, all that stuff. It was also kind of what he does the best, and in Kansas City, that's what you're going to get as a young player. You're pliable, not only physically, but mentally. So you're going to get your trial by fire, and you're going to sink, or you're going to swim, and they do a beautiful job of making sure that you swim. It's just going to be a little uncomfortable for you. There were growing pains for both parties as a young Mitch Morse surrounded them, but it was great."
Offensive line coach Andy Heck has been with the Chiefs since 2013 was an impactful part of Morse's development as a young player.
"Andy Heck is an incredible teacher, maybe one of the great teachers in this business. He had his hands full, coming from a guy who played in a spread offense, playing tackle and going to your first nine-on-seven short-yardage goal line, and I'm seeing guys I didn't even know existed. He would get so frustrated," said Morse, "He was so kind that we would be in meetings, and we would take a break, and then we'd come back, and I would just be messing up what was on the screen, and he'd have to take another five-minute break. His patience, but at the same time, his ability to instill a sense of urgency, understanding, allowing me to understand the gravity of the situation I was in, which was that you had the keys to the castle, you're the center, and all that entails."
Morse was tasked with starting as a rookie, protecting veteran quarterback Alex Smith, and eventually, as time progressed, Patrick Mahomes.
"You have a quarterback who's in year 13. We had just come off a season in 2014 that was maybe the last time the Chiefs weren't in the playoffs, so the stakes were very high and it was stressful. It was conducive to growing as a football player," said Morse, "Andy Heck was a great teacher not only of the technique but also of the game of football, and he fostered opportunities for all of his young players to grow."
Morse played center for 10 seasons in the National Football League for the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Jacksonville Jaguars, earning a Pro Bowl selection in 2022. He also played college football for the Missouri Tigers. He hosts a weekly podcast, Monday Mornings with Mitch, and can be followed on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Mitch Morse on experience playing for Chiefs HC Andy Reid, Andy Heck
Continue reading...
