KANSAS CITY, Mo. — No team has gone back-to-back as Super Bowl champions since the Patriots following the 2004 season.
The Chiefs have completed the first step of repeating.
"It's hard to get one," Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid said. "It took me 20 years to get on that end of it."
He brings up a good point. The Chiefs took their shot before at repeating, falling in Super Bowl LV after winning Super Bowl LIV.
"Try to learn from what we did last time when we were trying to repeat," Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. "Obviously getting to the Super Bowl."
And along the way you can learn from those who have repeated.
"In terms of repeating, I would say the biggest obstacle is probably the turnover," said Nancy Doresy, volleyball coach for St. James Academy.
Dorsey has won nine state titles at St. James; six of them were in a row.
"In professional athletics there's maybe a little less turnover than there is in high school or college," Dorsey said. "And now in college with the transfer portal, building that culture has got to be more difficult."
Kansas State head football coach Chris Klieman also weighed in saying, "It's hard because it's not the same team."
Klieman won back-to-back FCS National Championships twice as head coach of North Dakota State.
"The second thing is complacency and remaining humble and remaining hungry," said Klieman.
Kansas head basketball coach Bill Self countered, "I don't know if it's complacency, but a lot of people pulling at your time."
Of course, Self won 14 straight regular season Big 12 titles. He's won two NCAA titles but has yet to repeat one of those.
Florida was the last team to repeat in college basketball back in 2007.
"Speaking engagements or this or that," Self said. "You're out late at a dinner so you sleep in the next day as opposed to being at work when you'd normally be there."
So it's tangible factors like time and talent, and the abstract like mindset and motivation.
"I think the biggest challenge is getting the previous year out of the kids' mind," said Joel Applebee, Mill Valley football head coach.
Applebee has been successful at that, winning six of the last eight state titles in Kansas 5A, the last four in a row.
"I remind the kids every day — ff you don't have a sense of urgency to get things done, whether it's in the weight room or on the practice field, people are going to be passing you by," he said.
Salvador Perez and the Royals once repeated as American League Champions.
He says losing in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series launched the Royals to winning it all in 2015.
"I've got to be honest with you, I think that's the most like motivation that we ever had," Perez said.
Repeating means not only preventing the fall of your own team, but matching the inspiration of your opponents.
"We talked about it at North Dakota State all the time," Klieman said. "This is this team's Super Bowl. This is the national championship for this team."
Dorsey talked about the discussion she had with her teams.
"We are going to get everybody's Olympics. The Chiefs are going to get everybody's best game, as are KU basketball," she said. "They don't go anywhere and just win, right? They have to earn it."
Self says the Big 12 got significantly better during the Jayhawks' 14-year run.
"Texas tech went to the Finals and Baylor won a national championship, and K-State goes to the Elite 8," Self said. "I actually think iron sharpens iron."
As it turns out, the same psychology that passes through all sports at all levels even extends to the real world.
Quinton Lucas has gone back "back-to-back" in elections as Kansas City's mayor.
"The amount of hunger you have during your first campaign," Lucas said. "That was one of those times if there were two Kansas Citians on a corner, I'm like, 'Hey, I need to talk to you.' But by campaign two, you're kind of like, 'I, think I know how this works.'"
It's "campaign two" for the Chiefs. And they know how it works.
"Just not being satisfied with getting wins or having some early success," Mahomes said. "You have to keep building."
Reid said, "You look at what you can control. And that's your play like right now."
It's what the Chiefs are doing. And their quest for a repeat begins tonight.
"It's hard," Self said. "But if I was going to pick anybody that can do it, the guy coaching it and the guy that's under center, I'll pick every time."
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