Coaching Career
Reeves, a protégé of Tom Landry, became the youngest head coach in the NFL when he joined the Denver Broncos in 1981 as Vice President and Head Coach. After acquiring quarterback John Elway in a trade, Reeves guided the Broncos to six post-season appearances, five divisional titles, three AFC championships and three Super Bowl appearances (Super Bowl XXI, XXII and XXIV) during his 12-year tenure. Reeves was fired after the 1992 season and replaced by his protégé and friend Wade Phillips.
He was the only AFC coach in the decade of the 1980s to lead his team to consecutive Super Bowl berths and his Broncos appeared in the Super Bowl three times during a span of four years.
Reeves served as New York Giants head coach from 1993-1996. In his first season he led the Giants to an 11–5 record and a berth in the playoffs. Reeves' 1993 season record is the best ever for a first-year Giants coach. Reeves was named the 1993 Associated Press Coach of the Year after helping the Giants improve from a 6-10 record in 1992. Reeves was fired again after the Giants went 5–11 in 1995 and 6–10 in 1996.
In 1997 Reeves was named the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Under his command the team, which had finished the 1996 campaign with a 3–13 record, steadily improved. After going 7-9 his first season, Reeves took Atlanta to the greatest season in franchise history.
The Falcons went 14–2 in 1998, going on to capture their first NFC championship. Reeves coached the Falcons to a 12–2 record before being hospitalized for the final two regular season games to undergo quadruple-bypass heart surgery in December. Reeves managed to return to the sidelines just three weeks later to lead the Falcons to victory in their first NFC Championship. Reeves' Falcons were pitched against the Denver Broncos and lost Super Bowl XXXIII 34-19. In the process, Reeves earned the NFL's top coaching awards as he was named the 1998 NFL Coach of the Year.
In 2003, after winning just 3 of the first 13 games, Reeves asked to be released and the Falcons replaced him with Wade Phillips as interim coach for 3 games, making it the second time for Reeves to be replaced by Phillips as an NFL head coach. Recently, Reeves has played an active role in the starting of Georgia State University's football program.
In January 2009, Dan Reeves interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers for their offensive coordinator job.
After negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys (which, coincidentally, had Phillips as their head coach), Reeves became a consultant for the team in February 2009. This role was short-lived, however, as it only lasted two days before Reeves turned in the keys to his office and hit the road. Reeves and the Cowboys could apparently not reach conclusions as to Reeves' role with the team. In the days following, it was revealed that the dispute came down to a contract clause specifying a number of hours per week to be worked, which Reeves deemed insulting.
Reeves was reportedly interested in returning to coaching for the 2010 season as a part of Chan Gailey's staff with the Buffalo Bills.
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