Steve Spagnuolo


Stephen Christopher Spagnuolo is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He rejoined Andy Reid after being a defensive assistant with him from 1999 to 2006. Spagnuolo has won two Super Bowls as defensive coordinator, one with the New York Giants and one with the Kansas City Chiefs. Following two seasons in New York, he was the head coach of the St. Louis Rams for three seasons, was an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens, had a one-season stint with the New Orleans Saints, and then went back to the Giants as defensive coordinator in 2015. He was named interim head coach after the firing of former head coach Ben McAdoo on December 4, 2017.
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 High School, Spagnuolo played wide receiver at Springfield College. He assisted the University of Massachusetts football team while pursuing his graduate degree.

Coaching career

Philadelphia Eagles

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.

New York Giants

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 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.

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. These vacancies included, the Denver Broncos, New York Jets, and Detroit Lions,, but Spagnuolo decided to join with the St. Louis Rams, taking over their head-coaching vacancy with a 4-year, $11.5 million contract. 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.

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. 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.

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.

Return to Giants

On January 15, 2015, Spagnuolo rejoined the New York Giants as defensive coordinator, serving under head coach Tom Coughlin in 2015 and then under head coach Ben McAdoo in 2016. The Giants finished 30th in the NFL for defense his first year back, but rebounded to have the league's second best defense in 2016, which fueled the team to an 11-5 record. Spagnuolo became interim head coach of the Giants 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, but finished 1-3 as interim head coach. After the season, Spagnuolo was not retained by new head coach Pat Shurmur, as Shurmur elected to hire James Bettcher as his defensive coordinator.

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. On February 2, 2020, Spagnuolo won his 2nd championship as the Chiefs beat the 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV.

Coaching philosophy

Spagnuolo learned under Philadelphia defensive coach Jim Johnson, and shares the same aggressive, blitz-heavy approach as his mentor.. 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.

Head coaching record