A great number of offensive and defensive coordinators interviewed for head coaching jobs since the end of the regular season, but Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was not one of them.
Spagnuolo has run the defense in Kansas City since 2019, so he’s been part of three Super Bowl titles and this season’s group was a big reason the team was able to find their way back to the big game despite extended difficulties finding a consistent offensive attack during the regular season. Spagnuolo was also a coordinator for the Giants’ Super Bowl XLII champs and that helped him get a head coaching shot, but it did not go well.
Spagnuolo went 10-38 with the Rams from 2009-2011 and, given his success running the defense for the Chiefs, that record would seem to be the biggest reason why Spagnuolo hasn’t gotten more looks. In a reply to Tyreek Hill asking on social media why Spagnuolo doesn’t get interviews, Rams COO Kevin Demoff, who took on that role the same year Spagnuolo became coach in St. Louis, wrote that he thinks Spagnuolo should get another chance.
“It is well past time to see Spags get another head coaching opportunity,” Demoff wrote. “The team & organization he inherited in STL was a mess, nobody could have had success. Yet he changed the culture/staff & players believed. An amazing human deserving of the real shot we couldn’t give him.”
The Chiefs have benefitted from the lack of interest in Spagnuolo as a head coach as it has provided them with continuity that has translated to great success on the field. It’s hard to think that more of the same leading into Spagnuolo’s 65th birthday is going to lead to a different view around the league, but we won’t know anything for sure for another year.
