Steve Spagnuolo reiterates desire to be NFL head coach again

Steve Spagnuolo has reiterated his desire to be a head coach again in the NFL.

At this point, no other team in the National Football League has held onto its coordinator-level leadership longer than the Kansas City Chiefs. Part of that continuity in the coaching staff is what has allowed them to host five consecutive conference championship games, but what’s also true is that both coordinators—Eric Bieniemy on the offensive side and Steve Spagnuolo on the defensive side—are hoping to move on.

It’s no secret that Bieniemy is a head coach-in-waiting, a willing dance partner waiting for someone to extend a hand. Every year, he’s courted to varying degrees around the league only to realize the coaching carousel is slowing without any legitimate job offers.

For Spagnuolo, however, his desire to be a head coach is a different case, the rare scenario for a man who has already had a chance, has built up even greater credibility, and yet has yet to really draw much in the way of further interest.

Spags has been a solid defensive coordinator for the Chiefs over the last four seasons, with three Super Bowl appearances to vouch for his work in those years. This year might feature his best work yet with a young defensive core and lacking defensive front that have each turned in successful seasons. While the story for the Chiefs is always going to be about Patrick Mahomes and the offense, it should be noted that Chris Jones and L’Jarius Sneed putting up breakout seasons are a product of the way Spags has learned how to use his players.

Moving forward, Spagnuolo believes that experience could serve him well, but only time can tell. He told the Giants’ official website in a recent interview that he’d welcome a chance to be a head coach again.

"“Look, I’d like that chance,” he said. “We all do. We’re prideful guys, so you want a chance to prove you’re better than the way you finished. I enjoyed it. As hard as it was in New York that last month, I enjoyed representing the Giants as the head football coach.”"

Spags came back to this theme in other interviews during media week in Glendale for Super Bowl LVII.

Spags is right that some guys have a much better time of things the second time around, and that’s even true for his current boss, Andy Reid. Bill Belichick was fired from Cleveland before becoming the game’s best head coach in New England.

Can Spags ever earn such an opportunity again, however? He went 10-38 through three seasons with the St. Louis Rams and a short 1-3 stint as interim in New York. Of course, it’s been over a decade since the Rams’ job and 2017 for his NYG stint.

For now, Spags knows he has a nice job with the Chiefs and if this is as far as he goes, he sounds content. At the same time, the Chiefs now have both coordinators talking openly about wanting to move on to bigger roles. It will be interesting to see what changes are coming, if any.