Steve Spagnuolo - Wikipedia

Stephen Christopher Spagnuolo (/spæɡˈnoʊloʊ/; born December 21, 1959) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Spagnuolo was hired by the Giants after two seasons as a defensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens. This was his second stint as the Giants' defensive coordinator, having held that job from 2007 to 2008 after spending eight years on the defensive staff of Jim Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles. He was named interim head coach upon the firing of former head coach Ben McAdoo on December 4, 2017.

Spagnuolo was hired by the St. Louis Rams in 2009 to be their head coach, but was fired after three seasons. He became the defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints in 2012 but was fired after only one year.

Spagnuolo has also worked as a college football assistant coach for the University of Connecticut, the University of Maine, Lafayette College, Rutgers University, Bowling Green University, and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He also spent time in the original World League of American Football and its successor, NFL Europe.

Early years
Born in the Whitinsville section of Northbridge, Massachusetts, Spagnuolo moved to Grafton as a youth. After graduating from Grafton (MA) High School, Spagnuolo played wide receiver at Springfield College. He assisted the University of Massachusetts football team while pursuing his graduate degree.[1]

Coaching career
Spagnuolo began his NFL coaching career in the Philadelphia Eagles organization in 1999, serving as linebackers and defensive backs coach. He remained there for eight years.

In January 2007 he was hired as the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants under head coach Tom Coughlin.

He spent two years in New York, and was the architect of the aggressive defensive strategy against the New England Patriots (the highest scoring offensive team in NFL history at the time) in Super Bowl XLII, which was instrumental in the close victory by the Giants. Following the Super Bowl win and a great deal of praise, Spagnuolo's name was widely circulated for open head coach positions around the NFL.

On February 7, 2008, he took his name out of consideration for the head coaching position of the Washington Redskins. The same day, the New York Giants made Spagnuolo one of the highest-paid defensive coordinators in the NFL with a new three-year contract, worth roughly $2 million a year.[2]

St. Louis Rams
Following another successful season in 2008, in which the Giants finished the season 12–4, but lost in the Divisional round of the NFL Playoffs. Spagnuolo's name came up as a replacement for numerous head-coaching vacancies once again, including those for the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, and Detroit Lions,[citation needed], but Spagnuolo decided to join with the St. Louis Rams, taking over their head-coaching vacancy with a 4-year, $11.5 million contract.[3][4] Spagnuolo hired Pat Shurmur and Ken Flajole to be the Rams' offensive and defensive coordinators respectively. Spagnuolo then hired Josh McDaniels to be the team's offensive coordinator to replace Shurmur, who left for the Browns' head-coaching job.

Spagnuolo's first season saw the Rams go 1–15, the worst record in the league and the worst season in franchise history. After rebounding to 7–9 in 2010, they regressed to 2–14 in 2011, tied with the Indianapolis Colts with the worst record in the league. Spagnuolo was fired on January 2, 2012, after compiling a 10–38 overall record in his three seasons in St. Louis, the second-lowest winning percentage for a non-interim coach in franchise history.[5]

New Orleans Saints
On January 19, 2012, Spagnuolo agreed to terms with the New Orleans Saints to become the new defensive coordinator under head coach Sean Payton, choosing this position rather than an offer from the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Payton was subsequently suspended for the season for his alleged role in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, leaving Spagnuolo to coach the defense without Payton's input.[6][7] In 2012, the Saints allowed the most yards for a season of any defense in NFL history en route to finishing 7–9 and missing the playoffs for the first time in four years. Soon after Payton's suspension ended, Spagnuolo was fired on January 24, 2013.[8]

Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore hired Spagnuolo as a senior defensive assistant before the 2013 season, then promoted him to assistant head coach/secondary coach in 2014.[9]

New York Giants
On January 15, 2015, Spagnuolo rejoined the New York Giants as defensive coordinator.[10] The Giants finished last in the NFL for defense his first year back.[11] Also, after interviewing to become the head coach of the New York Giants (the job was given to Ben McAdoo), it was reported by Ian Rapaport on January 13 that Spagnuolo would remain the team's defensive coordinator for the upcoming 2016 NFL season. He became interim head coach after a house cleaning by the organization after the firings of McAdoo and General Manager Jerry Reese on December 4, 2017. He led them to a last-game win against the Washington Redskins and the Giants finished with a 3-13 record.

At the end of the season, Spagnuolo was fired along with the rest of McAdoo's coaching staff.

Kansas City Chiefs
On January 24, 2019, Spagnuolo was named defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. Spagnuolo previously coached defensive backs and linebackers under Chiefs coach Andy Reid in Philadelphia from 1999 to 2006. [12]

Coaching philosophy
Spagnuolo learned under Philadelphia coach Jim Johnson, and shares the same aggressive, blitz-heavy approach as his mentor. (He did not incorporate this philosophy during his time in New Orleans however). Spagnuolo uses a 4–3 base defense with a heavy emphasis on multiple blitz packages, including corner and safety blitzes. While defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, he often used a smaller defensive line, with three or even four defensive ends to further pressure the quarterback.

This philosophy proved successful, with the Giants leading the NFL in sacks in 2007. In Super Bowl XLII, Spagnuolo's defense sacked Tom Brady five times, which was the most he had been sacked in any game that season.

Coaching tree
Main article: Coaching tree
NFL head coaches under whom Spagnuolo has served:

Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles (1999–2006), Kansas City Chiefs (2019–present)
Tom Coughlin, New York Giants (2007–2008, 2015)
Joe Vitt, New Orleans Saints (2012)
John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens (2013–2014)
Ben McAdoo, New York Giants (2016–2017)
Assistant coaches under Spagnuolo who became NFL head coaches:

Pat Shurmur, Cleveland Browns (2011–2012) New York Giants (2018–present)