The interest might not lead to an actual job offer, and it's possible that Steve Spagnuolo might not accept it if he was, but for those who thought the Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator was beyond his head coaching days, this winter has proven to be a bit of a surprise.
The truth is that excellence is going to be rewarded in the NFL, no matter what package it comes in, because the bottom line in the league comes down to wins and losses. And one thing that Spags' units have done a lot of in the last few years is win games.
This month, three teams with head coach openings have called to interview Spagnuolo—the latest being the Jacksonville Jaguars, who recently fired Doug Pederson, also a former member of the Chiefs coaching staff, as head coach after three seasons.
Spags has led the Chiefs defense to impressive heights in the last few seasons, and even as NFL defenses have learned how to slow down the Chiefs' offensive machine (thanks in part to the loss of Tyreek Hill in a trade back in 2022), the defense has risen to the occasion. Newer players like George Karlaftis and Trent McDuffie among many others have joined Chris Jones to form an elite unit front to back.
Even more impressive is the way that Spags and his assistant coaches have been able to develop young talent in the wings when losing a significant player. The Chiefs lost Charvarius Ward and L'Jarius Sneed only to see others like Jaylen Watson and McDuffie take over as lockdown corners.
The Jaguars are the latest team with interest in talking to Spagnuolo about being a head coach again, but they're not alone. The New York Jets and Las Vegas Raiders also have Spags on their lists, so it will be interesting to see if any team narrows its focus to hiring the Chiefs coordinator.
It might help or hurt that Spags has already had the opportunity to lead his own team in the past. He had three full seasons to lead the St. Louis Rams, but the talent level was deplorable in those years and Spags was ultimately let go after winning only three games in that span of time. He also went 1-3 as an interim in New York with the Giants back in 2017.
However, Spags has won three of the last five Super Bowls and had been a central cog of the current Chiefs dynasty. Even at the age of 65, there's no doubt that Spags has learned a few things since his last chance to lead a franchise and his current body of work speaks for itself.