Greatest NFL defensive coordinator of all time? Chiefs’ Steve Spagnuolo presents compelling case

Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs, is about to play in his fourth Super Bowl in five seasons. Yes, it does enhance your resume to coach for a team that features one of the all-time great quarterbacks. However, in his five years in charge, Spagnuolo has turned K.C.’s defense from a weakness into a strength of this team. On Sunday, Spagnuolo, who is now the only coordinator with four rings, will have the opportunity to become the only person to win Super Bowls with both the Chiefs and the New York Giants.
Taking those honors into consideration, is Spagnuolo the best defensive coordinator in NFL history?

Spagnuolo had to coach for 25 years before he was hired to call plays in the NFL, but he jumped at the chance. During his first season as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, Spagnuolo played a crucial role in helping Big Blue pull off one of the most unlikely Super Bowl victories in history. Spagnuolo’s defense put on a masterful display at the end of that 2007–08 run, limiting the second-highest scoring offense in NFL history to 14 points and spoiling the undefeated season of the New England Patriots.

Even though Spagnuolo’s first season as an NFL DC was remarkable, his coaching position this year may be even more exceptional. Joining the 2009 Indianapolis Colts, these Chiefs became the second team in NFL history to make it to the Super Bowl while fielding the league’s youngest defense. Spagnuolo has created a formidable club from the bottom up. And although Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City offense has regressed this season, finishing outside the top five in projected points added per play for the first time in his career, Spagnuolo’s defense has improved to rank among the top five in the same category.
Following their postseason journey, the Chiefs will have played four of the top six offenses by points scored this season. On Sunday, they will play the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII. With just 13.7 points per game allowed thus far, Spagnuolo’s team is allowing the fewest of any team that qualified for the Super Bowl this millennium. With an offensive that averaged 6.6 yards per play this year—the seventh-highest by an offense in the Super Bowl era—the 49ers are one of the most explosive teams this league has ever seen in Spagnuolo’s final test. With his use of explosive plays, misdirection, and interchangeable personnel, Kyle Shanahan has created a death star. Spagnuolo’s unit presents in numerous ways.

Spagnuolo’s complex scheme of cover rotations and deceptive pressure packages requires a great deal of communication and expertise, and the Chiefs’ youthful defense is a credit to this coaching staff’s developmental efforts. The Chiefs maneuver their defensive personnel in a situational manner to generate mismatches and conceal their play calls, much like the 49ers do on offense. More often than any other NFL team, the secondary drops into split-safety coverages, but opponents seldom know who will ultimately be in charge of either deep half of the field.

The key to applying pressure in the absence of exceptional edge-rushing talent has been this multiplicity. Using his pass-rush skills, second-year CB Trent McDuffie will line up in the slot when the defense inserts extra defensive backs. This season, McDuffie has more unblocked pressures than any other cornerback with 14. Spagnuolo manipulates pass-protection schemes and pushes Chris Jones to the edge in clear-cut passing situations to set up one-on-one matchups for the star defensive tackle. This season, Jones produced five more pressures than any other defensive tackle with 56 in one-on-one situations. On a bull rush from the edge on the Buffalo Bills’ last drive of the Divisional Round, he might have applied the most significant pressure of the season, stopping the game-winning touchdown.

Similar to how many of today’s most deadly offenses have honed their timing to get the most out of pre-snap motion, Spagnuolo’s defenders hold off on showing their hand until the very last second. The Chiefs produced a league-high 73 unblocked pressures this season and have finished in the top seven each of the team’s previous seven seasons under Spagnuolo’s leadership.

The youthful team’s outstanding 2023 performance is all the more remarkable considering how distinct their defensive approach is from the rest of the NFL. Sending a five-man pressure package and playing with a single-high safety in coverage on the back end is conventional for the majority of clubs in the league. By doing this, more players will be present in the short and intermediate zones of the field, limiting the quarterback’s rapid choices. But the Chiefs defense of this year was the first since 2018 to use split-safety coverages behind most of its five-man rushes. With a five-man rush and split-safety coverage, the 2023 Chiefs ran 90 plays in total, 35 more than the next-closest defense.

The youthful team’s outstanding 2023 performance is all the more remarkable considering how distinct their defensive approach is from the rest of the NFL. Sending a five-man pressure package and playing with a single-high safety in coverage on the back end is conventional for the majority of clubs in the league. By doing this, more players will be present in the short and intermediate zones of the field, limiting the quarterback’s rapid choices. But the Chiefs defense of this year was the first since 2018 to use split-safety coverages behind most of its five-man rushes. With a five-man rush and split-safety coverage, the 2023 Chiefs ran 90 plays in total, 35 more than the next-closest defense.