THE team out there smart enough to hire Steve Spagnuolo will get a man of great integrity and commitment, someone with no interest in self-promotion and a great zeal for becoming a head coach for all the right reasons.
COWHER PULLS OUT OF RUNNING FOR GANG GREEN
Spagnuolo will bring passion, intensity, humility and a knack for plain-spoken communication that makes players feel included in the process. As a first-year coordinator, the four words he used on his downtrodden defense after allowing 80 points in the first two games of last season – “I believe in you” – resonated so forcefully that his players had no choice but to believe in themselves as well.
If the Jets cannot lure Bill Cowher, they would be wise to try to reel in Spagnuolo, who stands a mere 5-foot-9 yet towers over so many other prospects.
But would Spagnuolo be wise to take his first head-coaching gig in the Giants’ own backyard, saddled with unrealistic expectations and an over-the-hill quarterback who represents much that Spagnuolo knows is counter-productive to winning football?
The suitors are lining up: The Lions, the Jets, likely the Browns and possibly the Rams. Not all will hand Spagnuolo the job, and he’s not going to jump at the first offer. At 49 years old, the flecks of gray in his goatee reveal the time he’s put in. No wunderkind is he.
He was a nondescript assistant in Philadelphia for eight seasons before the convergence of his skills, the players he inherited and the Giant team he joined came together to produce Super Bowl magic.
Spagnuolo will never be more in demand, and this is the time for him to take the leap, unlike a year ago, when he so wisely turned down riches and the allure of the Redskins to say “thanks but no thanks” to Washington owner Daniel Snyder.
Eric Mangini’s youth and inexperience were, at times, painfully obvious for the Jets, and that may steer them to an already established coach (Marty Schottenheimer?). Spagnuolo has been an NFL coordinator for only two years and never been a head coach anywhere, yet he is so grounded he poses little risk to his next employer.
The Giants want him to stay and prefer he not fly off to the Jets. Even though the Jets and Giants are business partners in the $1.6 billion stadium set to open in 2010, play in different conferences and outwardly support each other, make no mistake – these are neighborhood rivals.
Seeing Bill Parcells wearing green was hard for the Giant hierarchy to take. Seeing one of their own, Spagnuolo, rebuilding the Lions or Browns would be more agreeable than him catapulting the Jets back into the fray.
Could he do it? Don’t bet against it. The spoon he grew up with was not silver. He was brought up by a single mother of five in Grafton, Mass., is deeply religious – he married his wife, Maria, at the Vatican – and is family-oriented and respectful.
His ability for understated leadership was never more pronounced than upon arrival with the Giants in 2007. He did not get to hire any of his defensive staff, inheriting an already established group of coaches, a few of whom no doubt believed they were worthy of the coordinator job.
What could have been an uncomfortable indoctrination was smoothed over by Spagnuolo’s inherent (and low-key) ability to turn those around him into supporters.
He would do the same with the Jets, but he’s no miracle worker and has no pixie dust to sprinkle over the right arm of Brett Favre. Spagnuolo in two years under Tom Coughlin has seen what works: a versatile running game and smart passing that limits the risk of turnovers.
Who in his right mind wants to be saddled with an aging former star for one year without a legitimate alternative in place?
Players greatly admire Spagnuolo; his fertile mind for pressure defense is only part of the allure. Giant fans at last year’s victory parade chanted “One more year,” and Spagnuolo gave them that. If and when he goes, it will be the right hire. For the Jets to make it work, they may have to choose: new coach or old quarterback?