When it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s almost always about the likes of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and head coach Andy Reid. But defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo surely deserves lots of love and attention as well, even though Kansas City fell short in their mission to win the Super Bowl last February.
The 65-year-old Spagnuolo is one of the most accomplished defensive coordinators in the NFL. He has won four Super Bowls, one with the New York Giants and three with the Chiefs, who hired him in 2019.
He will still be the team’s architect on defense in 2025, and he’ll get a familiar face back for his stop unit after the Chiefs reunited with defensive back Mike Edwards in this offseason. Edwards, who won a Super Bowl with Kansas City in 2024, put pen on paper for a one-year, $1.33 million contract with the Chiefs early this April.
Edwards gives Kansas City Chiefs DC his flowers
The 28-year-old Edwards had nothing but praises for his old boss when he recently talked about his return to the Chiefs.
“Spags is a real creative guy; he’s the mastermind behind all of this work,” Edwards said in a media interview posted by Kansas City on YouTube (h/t Leigh Oleszczak of Arrow Addict). “With his defense, I think I fit in really well, just because I can play all over the field. Spags is one of those guys that likes to use his players and their strengths and likes to use them all over the place… He’s a great coach, and he’s going to have everybody in the right spot.”
In 2024, Edwards got a solid 72.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. During the 2023 season with the Chiefs, he saw action for 17 games and recorded five passes defended, a sack, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit.
