SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Seems, the marquee matchup Friday evening between the Chargers and Kansas Metropolis Chiefs isn’t only a season-opening showdown between two premier quarterbacks and legit Tremendous Bowl hopefuls.
It’s additionally a household feud — minus the dangerous blood.
Devin Woodhouse, head energy and conditioning coach for the Chargers, is the son-in-law of Chiefs coach Andy Reid, an under-the-radar connection that additional hems these AFC West rivals.
“In our first game last year, I was a little anxious playing them,” Woodhouse informed The Occasions. “It felt weird rooting against him at times.”
Reid understands, and he loves the truth that earlier than bringing Woodhouse with him from the College of Michigan, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh referred to as his Kansas Metropolis counterpart and requested him if that may be OK.
“I said, ‘Heck, yeah, I’m honored that he’s got an opportunity to work for you,’” Reid mentioned. “I got the biggest kick out of that, that Jim would even think of that. … What a class act.”
Chargers energy and conditioning coach Devin Woodhouse instructs gamers throughout follow at The Bolt in El Segundo on Dec. 13, 2024.
(Los Angeles Chargers)
Woodhouse, modest and targeted on his Chargers obligations, was initially reluctant to take a seat down for an interview. However Harbaugh and Reid nudged him to speak, as did his direct boss, Ben Herbert, government director of participant efficiency.
“I don’t want to dim that light on him,” Herbert mentioned. “I want that light brighter.”
Woodhouse, 34, who grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, met his future spouse, Drew Ann Reid, once they have been members of the identical ward of their church in Provo, Utah. That they had mutual associates, an instantaneous connection and have been married in 2013.
The couple was additional bonded by tragedy. Drew Ann’s older brother, Garrett, who struggled with drug abuse for years, died in 2012. The dual brother of Woodhouse, Chaz, who was confined to a wheelchair with cerebral palsy, died a yr later.
“As our relationship was growing, her brother passed away,” Woodhouse mentioned. “We grew even closer together.”
The 2 now have 4 kids, two boys and two ladies, all of whom seek advice from Reid as “Gramps.” Woodhouse doesn’t name his father-in-law something however “Coach.”
“I would say he’s a better man than he is a coach, and he’s a pretty dang good coach,” Woodhouse mentioned. “And [mother-in-law] Tammy is the head coach of the head coach, so that’s how good they both are. I just love them, and not just the people they are for my wife, but for my kids and their grandkids.
“One of the things I love most about Coach Reid is how much I feel people love to play for him. It’s a cool thing to witness and I respect it a lot.”
Woodhouse feels the identical approach about Harbaugh, for whom he and Herbert labored on the College of Michigan.
“Ben Herbert found Dev,” Harbaugh mentioned. “When Herb recommends somebody, I already know it’s going to be good. He doesn’t bring in anybody who doesn’t have a tremendous work ethic. Devin came in, and Herb was right.”
Herbert is meticulous right down to the smallest element. As an illustration, every dumbbell on the Chargers facility is emblazoned with the membership’s lightning-bolt brand. Not solely is that wall of weights all the time exactly organized, however each lightning bolt is arched in an similar approach. To make sure there’s by no means a speck of mud on the ground, Herbert and his crew use electrical leaf blowers every day to scrub the huge house.
Serving to oversee the bodily well-being of so many elite athletes is a difficult project, notably for a franchise that has an unlucky historical past of shedding key gamers to accidents — because the Chargers did in August with left sort out Rashawn Slater, who sustained a season-ending knee harm.
Chargers energy and conditioning coach Devin Woodhouse helps quarterback Justin Herbert together with his jersey throughout coaching camp in El Segundo on July 21, 2025.
(Ty Nowell / Los Angeles Chargers)
The way in which Harbaugh sees it, nobody is best outfitted to coach an NFL staff than Herbert.
“We are the tip of the spear,” mentioned Herbert, who shouldn’t be associated to Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. “Our job is to impact the mental and physical capability of the players. The physical part is much easier. The mental part — emotional stability, consistency — that’s the separator. And trust is everything.”
Woodhouse has a knack for constructing and sustaining these trusts.
“He has an ability to build relationships across a melting pot of personalities,” Herbert mentioned. “He’s also versatile across range-of-motion, tissue and joint, strength, power and movement traits. So much so that with my 14-year-old, twice a week I want Coach Woodhouse to work with him.”
Woodhouse has a very eager eye in the case of evaluating the tiniest elements of an individual in movement, serving to gamers make delicate changes to the way in which they run to be able to enhance their velocity.
Chargers energy and conditioning coach Devin Woodhouse works with Chargers broad receiver Ladd McConkey earlier than a sport at SoFi Stadium in opposition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 15, 2024.
(Ty Nowell / Los Angeles Chargers)
“Dev’s someone who’s going to support you, but he’s going to tell it like it is,” Chargers receiver Ladd McConkey mentioned. “I’ll be running a route, and Dev’s over there with his phone recording me. Then we’ll look at it in slo-mo and break it down.”
Throughout video games, Woodhouse is on the sideline as a “get-back” coach — a time period he doesn’t notably like — ensuring gamers and coaches hold a ample distance from the sphere.
As for his personal feelings, he figures he can have them in verify, even together with his father-in-law on the other sideline.
Household is household, true. However soccer is soccer.
