Another week, another trip to the Super Bowl for the Kansas City Chiefs, and another coaching masterclass from Steve Spagnuolo. A key piece to Kansas City advancing to its fifth Super Bowl in the last six seasons and now set to attempt the NFL’s first-ever three-peat was the defensive effort led by Spagnuolo, who has been regarded as one of the top coordinators throughout the league for quite some time.
Spagnuolo pulled the right levers at the right time to slow down Buffalo’s high-flying offense and punch the Chiefs’ ticket to the Super Bowl. And, in the eyes of star defensive tackle Chris Jones, the Chiefs will continue to find themselves hovering around the winner’s circle so long as Spagnuolo is with the organization.
“As long as they continue to let Spags be our DC and not hire him as a head coach, we’re going to continue to win,” Jones told ESPN.
Chiefs shutting down Josh Allen QB sneaks proved to be key X-factor in AFC Championship win over Bills
Tyler Sullivan
Spagnuolo’s name did pop up this hiring cycle, interviewing with the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars for their head coaching vacancies. He has head coaching experience leading the then-St. Louis Rams from 2009-2011 and was the New York Giants interim head coach in 2017 before joining Andy Reid’s staff in Kansas City in 2019. Since joining the Chiefs, Spagnuolo has been a key figure in the organization’s recent dynasty that has included three Super Bowl victories, further bolstering his stature throughout the league.
Spagnuolo made his presence felt throughout this latest AFC Championship win, particularly halting Josh Allen on various QB sneaks. He also called an all-out blitz on the Bills quarterback on a fourth-and-5 play that effectively ended the game.
“For me, he’s one of the greatest assistant coaches to ever coach the game,” Jones continued. “When you look at his résumé, he’s got one of the greatest résumés. He finds a way to close. That’s what Spags does. Whether it’s dropping deep and covering a tight end or whether it’s sending a quarterback pressure at the end of the game, that’s what he’s known for. He can dial up different schematics and different blitzes to affect the opposing quarterback and he does a really, really good job at it.”
This season (including playoffs), the Chiefs have held opponents to 19.4 points per game, which is the fourth fewest in the NFL.
