Kansas City Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo on why Super Bowl LVIII vs 49ers is one he’ll never forget

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Baldi look who's here it's our guy put him in the spotlight let's we got we've got we've got the Mastermind of all masterminds when it comes time to take him down an opponent's offense in a Super Bowl he does it every time he gets there Steve spagnol Steve the the great spags four time Champion you're the only coordinator in the NFL who has won four Championship how's that feel Steve how's that feel you know it's funny it's a little surreal like even um I was thinking about the backto back like you don't you don't feel it when you're in it like I have I mean I don't even think back to back or four Super Bowl wins as a coordinator has really come in it doesn't come into the mind when you're in the middle of it you know and then you know we go through Sunday we win the game thank God and then then I have you guys telling me all that so now I gotta think about it a little bit all right it's great to hear and I listen you you guys know I appreciate you pointing that out it's uh something I'll probably be I'll think about a lot of it a lot of all of this when I'm probably done coaching but uh very humbly well that's going to be a while because uh yeah the league we need you in this league um let's get to let's get to something there's so much to go over to talk about Le let's start with the game itself and uh really I mean look what you were going into what was your game plan going in against that team with you know such great weapons listen so many different ways to go with this thing when you sat down but I mean you guys know this you got you guys are football guy so you understand when I say this that no matter what team you play uh I I I firmly believe that you got to stop the run first now that becomes Paramount with this team with with mcaffrey and you know the the the weapon that they have there if you didn't stop that our feeling was that you know Kyle would just stick to it because he's that Dynamic I mean Christian mcaffrey can rip off a a tough hard-nosed 10 Y and then hit you for 60 you know or grind you out for seven he did that I mean so that it began there um then you got to go to the all the other ones right uh you know the two wide receivers and then the tight end um I you know listen if you you we were talking about this beforehand I've always felt it's really hard to take a tight end out of an offense and be able to stop the run game right because once you're committing a linebacker Andor safety or somebody to double in a tight end you know that weakens your run game so we couldn't do that we had to just rely on guys either chucking the tight end or you know having a Sam linebacker on them or safety which we did a little bit uh and then it went to the outside now luckily for us we have LJ and Trent and so LJ if you guys I'm sure you guys studied the film because that's what you do we had LJ travel with 11 and we thought you know we could win some of those downs and then whoever Trent got matched up on we felt like that might be a good match for us I mean 19's a strong dude but you know Trent Trent and LJ have been the the the secret ingredients to all us because if you you can't do certain things without those two cover guys and you know now listen teams will force us into putting the next another Corner out there when they go to three wides which San Francisco did they didn't do it as much because they're more they function out of 21 personel right because of Kyle Kyle so yeah he's so multiple but it began with the Run game getting LJ matched up on 11 making sure that you know KD didn't hurt us with with big downfield plays you know if he got a few underneath that was okay and then now listen we I didn't even get to the quarterback yet because one of the things that did scare me after watching the film to be quite honest like I didn't know what to expect with quarterback because we not a lot of crossover film right guys in the AFC NFC and we didn't see them a lot but the way he scrambled in those other Playoff games yeah that be became a concern now I didn't think you know we got done so we got done playing Tua Josh Allen right and Lamar and so all of them you guys know in the game plan had spies involved right you had to and so I'm hoping okay okay it's Brock py who I don't know anything about before I put the film on oh maybe we w't have to use a spy finally we can Rush four guys but then you put the film on and he's running all over the place so we had a little bit of that in there not as much as we had in the prior games but adding all that up Anthony to your question your original question stop the run get LJ on on number 11 try to limit the tight end to not deep but underneath stuff and then find a way when we got in those passing Downs not to allow the quarterback to scramble like he did against those other teams which Baldi there watching the third and 15 early in the second half after the turnover and they had a third and 15 and you spied prie yeah on that play is that the one that that did um Willie gay yeah that was Willie yeah I'll be honest with you you guys picked it up you of course you guys don't miss a thing uh but we did that because I felt like it felt like when Brock prie did see man and it was tight enough which we were banking on right that he would pull it down and do what he did in those other games and I didn't we didn't really feel like you know four down you know D lineman right Baldi they're going they're put in their ears back and as much as you want to tell them hey one of you guys has to be respect they don't they're trying to get home in the moment but Willie doesn't get lost in the moment he knows what his role is and I knew Willie could run him down uh because Will's got some speed he did he got us off the field that was a those are big plays those third down plays are huge see I felt like because of your their ability of both LJ and Trent to man up like they did that it gave you a little more flexibility like I saw you know I saw free safety I saw a rat I saw spy I saw pressures like it felt like it gave you a little bit more versatility and flexibility to sort of change things up because they want to attack the middle of the field right see that's that's kind of they want those dig routes and um you know even when they did hit it I mean Edwards was right there to blow it up like they were good throws like you were you were you were driving hard on that stuff but it it kind of you know that's that's where they make their that's where they make their bread and butter and I felt like you had a pretty good mix in there to be able to limit some of that stuff yeah you you're dead on and I be honest with you Baldi like you know we the we call them hey this team loves in Breakers yeah and and you guys W I'm sure you watched Brock all you know all you guys watched all of it he was so good at at delivering the ball before the the receiver even makes his break and so and he KN and he and he knows we wanted to mix up the look so hopefully that he didn't know we were in zone now Bly there's probably you go when you go back and watch there's at least two and maybe the third time when I got us in some zone for other reasons and he just and and I I thought we could take it away with some quarter coverage and then we preached all week long about the linebackers once you did recognize pass get your depth underneath the in breaker Drew Tranco was just a little bit shallow on one and then you're right about Mike Edwards on the one baly he just was he was a step away yeah I just I was hoping we could be there on that but we weren't and so when when I felt those plays that's when I immediately switched to man and said we just got to put gloves on these guys and not let them get the inbre because now that was at the risk of probably lessening some run and then the tight end you know you didn't want the tight end to be an issue but you're right it helped let's go back to LJ and Trent if we don't have those two guys you can't you don't feel like you can do all that stuff yeah you're right we did have some rat we did have some spy you know we had some six men we had some zero we threw we wanted to throw in there early atam they went to uh when you put it on baly I mean immediately out of the blocks they went to a Max protection on along with third down that we had not seen a lot of so they must have went in and said hey we're going to limit them on what they can do and uh that was a good move by them it was the one Trent made the the great play In The End Zone early yeah on Deo on Deo SLS the ball his right hand he slots it that was great a great play we ran We R in zero pressure on that one but they had blocked it up that's why Chris cut through I tell you what when you go back and watch that play ball watch and watch the running back mcaffrey the protection calls for him to slide all the way over to the tight end right and and take up take somebody off that edge well he saw that Chris Jones got beat the guard I think the GU one inside yeah yeah I they might but and mcaffrey had enough sense to say oh wait a minute I'm not gonna go over there this big fell is about to hit my quarterback and he turned and he got just enough of Chris that brocky was able to step up and make he made a good throw I mean it's a good throw if great throw and it was a great play by mcaffry because if Christian mcaffry is any other back and he just sticks with the rule that the coaches gave him to go over and protect off the edge with the tight end is Chris is in there probably gets a sack yeah he he did a he he did HD that SWAT inside on on the guard and he came free like that and pery did a good job of kind of avoiding it to get that throw I on that because they they took two deep shots to Debo In The End Zone both of them were good throws well one one was affected by Chris the other one was perfectly defended by Trent I'm just curious Steve um you know there's a lot of different ways to defend a go ball in zero coverage like that first one we're talking about but I I I see where Trent always tries to get his head around like is that because I see man turns and I see Zone turns Steve yeah is there a time for both or do you preach a certain style from your you know Watson and LJ in your group yeah well what happens to our guys um because we're such a press team that even when we're in zone they end up in a a man phase you know what I mean they're their backs are turned and and quite honestly uh Trent and I were talking about this morning while we're talking about Trent I think it's amazing guys and I don't know how the voting goes for the allpro but to to be voted an allpro first team without any interceptions yeah says that people respect his ability and I'm glad they recognize it I wish they'd see the same thing in LJ because LJ is every bit is is good yes but getting back to your question Baldi on the man because we are a press team Even in our zones we end up in those man phases so I would like them to mant turn but listen uh you know once you get out there and you heat the battle you got to find a way to find the football the point you're making about Trent I think does elevate him to the guy he is he does F he gets himself in position coverage wise and then looks for the ball not all the guys do that you know what I find in this league guys in Baldi when you're at uh you know the senior bowls when you're watching all these college guys because I look for this too the guys that have confidence in their ability to catch it tend to look for it more yeah because they know when they look if if they don't have that confidence they say subconsciously if I turn and see the ball then I might have to catch it I don't know if I can but the guy but the guys that have the confidence in catching it are always looking for it yeah that's the whole point we you think of per let's go back to perie for a second generally because early on I I you know he had a lot of composure I I thought you know again because you know we're thinking same thing like you're gonna go in and you're GNA go zero at times and try to get to him and and and try to rat him a little bit and and he he was I was impressed by him I thought he I thought he showed that same Poise throughout the playoffs yeah um in those I mean they were behind in those other games uh and you he didn't Flinch I didn't think and he got hit in other games and he didn't Flinch he didn't Flinch in this game I mean uh Nick Bolton hit him once really you know right after they got rid of the ball yeah um a couple other shots that he took and and I I thought he I don't think he got flushed at all but I kind of felt that he wouldn't like I didn't go in there thinking okay this is a Young quarterback right let's do this will get him out of his game because he had proved it to me in the other games that that wasn't the case we you know early on especially that first series I mean they they kind of stayed on track like I don't know we I'm not sure we got them into a third down we got the fumble fortunately for us uh but it wasn't until we could get him in some of those third and longers that we could do some things that we were hoping to do and I I'll be honest with you guys there's a there's a whole list of calls we never even got to just because of the way it was dictated yeah uh there was a a real critical point right this top of the third quarter Steve you're you're you guys are down 10 to six and uh the kid for uh for San Francisco Jer Brown he gets the interception you got to go out there and you got to play some transition defense Steve it's first and 10 at the 44 and they want to take a shot to auk uh on that seven cut and LJ kind of gives him inside but he's got a safety over the top I see what you're doing you're squeezing it and pry never gets it out because Chanel comes I I couldn't tell Steve if that was a designed Blitz or he saw something for him just to go on that play they didn't block it very well he came was that was it the first play of that Series yeah first play we went in it had this is the credit to the players now um we went in at halftime I'm getting let's get back to the man's own thing we were talking about I felt like we needed some more man calls so we went into the we went into the live libr and pulled something out that we didn't we had not worked on um in a couple of we we had had it during the season it wasn't anything that they were unfamiliar with but I just said to him I said look can we it was bringing Leo through the B Gap rather than bringing him off the edge and we had man coverage behind it and um yeah we put that in and said we're gonna use this this this half instead of something that we called taser and fortunately for us when we C and I called it right away they gave us regular personnel and Leo I think it might I don't know if it surprised him a little bit if somebody made a mistake I didn't have a chance to look too deep into it we've been we've been on a roll here between the party on Sunday night getting on the plane yesterday we did all the exit interviews today I've only been able to get through the tape real quick one time but uh but yeah we had put we decided that we were gonna put that in at halftime so that that one worked out pretty good hey look we're sports fans right we love it I know football's over and I'm going to be in depression mode the only way to get out of it is just go to games I might have to go to little NBA see this my Sixers or NHL see my flyers right like I know all around the country we love our teams we love baseball's about to start the summer concert series is around the corner and we need tickets this is why you use the game time app the game time app they're obsessed with saving you money on events all right obsessed saving you money on tickets because they want you in the event they want save your money in fact they're so sure they're going to save your money that they'll refund you a difference of 110% if you find your tickets cheaper you're not going to find the seats cheaper it's not going to happen you can try but and they'll refund you 110% of the difference check it out the game time app is fabulous man right you got uh event cancellation protection job loss protection you got all kinds of deals like last minute deals Zone deals so you can pick the section they'll just give you the row in the seats and boom you're good to go you're going to save on average 18% and you can virtually see your Vantage points from your seats it's the game time at man changing the way you buy tickets in fact use the code all NFL save you 20 bucks off your first purchase that's right 20 bucks off your first purchase it's the game time app change it away we buy chickens what let's go back early um the gadget Play where they score on you guys had it covered like which was which was a a a real testimony to your guys because you know you actually have the receiver doubled KD yeah right it was KD at that point you got him doubled and Jennings is just you know the built-in second option to go back to mcaffrey you know was just was just I thought it was just defended well we had the um the portion of that play where all the linemen went with the back we had we had actually worked on that wow we ran it TW we ran it twice in practice now I can't remember you see that somewhere Steve did you see that type of play before they they had run it uh we have we always do a gadget tape early in the week yeah and so one of Don deasio one of our secondary coaches collects all the gadgets now for this game I'm we we did all the ones they had this year and anything they had last year um and so it was on it was on that tape somewhere and we said we need to run this so we run it twice during the week once in a walk through and then once as a live rep so that part of it but but I don't remember Anthony having the the tight end George KD part of it in there I think it was right maybe it was I can't remember I just remember we when we did it in practice we always threw it to the back because we thought it was a built-in screen and and the point we were trying to make make to our D lineman is look it's not natural for o lineman to keep working outside on a play that gets thrown away right that would be unnatural so feel that now George did a good job feeling it Nick Bolton did a good job feeling it but when you watch them you know Nick thought George was gonna go inside so Nick went outside and George kind of got you know George tricked him a little bit and so mcaffry got inside the both of them but when you when you watch that play again guys here's the this is this game right here game of inches right let's get back to Trent McDuffy Trent was covering for we were in man again he hits he hits Jennings he blows and baly if he's there just one half a step quicker or the or 15 H it's gonna be a turnover fumble and it goes the other way and instead they get six and that's just how close the game is and but that was listen it was a well constructed play by them I thought when it was developing I really thought our guys were in good position he just you know he made one guy Miss and we had two guys on the outside instead of one outside and one inside and they he scored touch down Steve there's there's a critical moment in the game it's 1616 they're in a four-minute drill at the end of the game they got third and four Steve you know it down third and four and if they convert it they might just bleed the clock and kick the field goal yeah you call a pressure Steve where you bring you bring McDuffy off to slot he's on like he has been he's on auk but he's kind of dancing in there a little bit but I just saw where you know Bolton goes inside carus goes outside and it just opened up the hole but that b Gap you hit it he hit it just right and they actually iuk sees the blitz I mean he's looking for the ball Steve I don't know if McDuffy sort of clouds him and he can't see him he ends up throwing to the slant to to Jennings but that call Steve like what are you thinking in that situation right there well I I can tell you guys I'll tell you two things about that play because you're my guys right they that that was a fourth down stopper in other words that was on my call list to stop a critical fourth down because I felt that's what that was yes now I wasn't sure what Kyle would do I guess he had to kick it right because you couldn't yeah I mean at that point right so to me it was a fourth down play so I was on that fourth down list if I'm being perfectly honest I had a different call called but there was a I don't know if they called a timeout or there was aop two minute it was a two-minute warning Steve that's what it was two-minute warning and so in the midst of it I got on the headset with uh Nick so I can't I can't remember what the first call was but it wasn't a it wasn't a zero pressure it was either we were either doubl in two guys or or it was a different pressure I can't remember but I said Nick how do you feel about and I gave him the other call and when now here's what I do like I believe that when you present that to players I look for the reaction and how it comes back yeah yeah yeah and if they absolutely would let the body language tells you how much they love it Steve exactly and so when I when I radio it into Nick I was looking right at him it was immediate yes yes then he gave me the signal and I knew exactly what he wanted and so we changed the call we put a whole we put another group in and substituted actually I thought they went in there too early because I didn't want to let San but they were so jacked up to go in there I got another group willly Willie went in and uh somebody else I can't remember what the whole substitution was but my point is is when you have confidence in your guys that they know what they want that makes all the difference in the world and when I saw the reaction by Nick and I trust Nick more than anybody uh I I knew that that's the call we should go with and if you if you win with it great if you don't at least we knew we had the best call possible you know what's interesting about that Steve it's it's I'm so glad you shared that with this I feel like when you do that especially with a player like Nick who's just dialed in buttoned up you know PR preparation the whole thing is that an empowers the players like you're calling it but it's it's it's their game it's their call as much as it is your call off your sheet right well they and we did that at halftime like the you know the two three or four you don't make that many changes but the two or three key things and we had plenty of time you guys know it's a 29 minute halftime right so you're in there forever but when I sat with them I said how do you guys feel about this now first I run it by Nick and some of the safeties right and then I get the whole group and and generally none of them will ever nod and say no you know because they believe in everything right but but you can tell by their reactions and a couple few things that we were doing they were all in and they've been that way all year I mean I you guys have I think we talked about this last time this is the highest number of high IQ players I've ever been working with on a daily basis in the course of a game and it makes all the difference in the world because you can't always do that you know we haven't been doing this thing a long time and if there's you know if two or three of your key guys are just not you know they're great players right they can run they can but they're not quite you just got to be careful uh but we didn't have to do that with this group well well that group go back to last year when you kind of ushered them particularly the secondary and all your secondary guys and you ushered them forward you were EXC I remember us talking early in the year and you're like I you know you were excited about that group from the beginning yeah I tell you I give you an example of how excited we were about those young guys or the trust that we had we got to about week four or five or six and I don't know if you guys remember the name Rashad Fenton he was a yeah and we had him in 2019 and he but it got to a I think Brett might have come to me and said we have a chance to trade to get a draft or something and and I don't ever want to lose guys because I love Rashad too but we felt like hey if you if you need to do that for the future or for whatever we're doing we're okay because we got these other guys let's develop you know the jayin and and the Josh Williams and you know to the credit and that and our secondary coaches do a great job with them Dave Merritt and Donald gasio yeah did a great job with those young guys all last year and all through this year um and you're able to do things like that but you know having that whole crew back again this year Anthony after some of the growing pains a year ago and even though a year ago resulted in a Super Bowl uh they grew the whole year and then we kind of picked up where we left off and we were able to add some things and it just it just worked out Steve you have a monster in the middle in Chris Jones yeah and not everybody has most teams don't have any anybody like Chris Jones yeah but the thing about him that always impresses me Steve is he knows when the game is in the balance like he didn't he really did very little in the first quarter like I mean he wasn't really much of a factor but as the game wore on he just became a bigger and bigger Factor what is it about certain players strayan had that obviously you've been around great players yeah like what is it about some of these guys they just know the biggest moment of the game now San Francisco blew the protection but there he is Chason on that last third down there right at the end of you know overtime overtime right there there's Chris Jones Chasing pie like we've seen so many times before like is it the way they're wired is it their ability do they just understand things differently than a lot of other guys I think the um you know part of it I think with Chris is he recognizes the moment and he's been in it before yeah yeah I mean he's been down this road so he knows what it takes and I tell you what I told him this morning he I'm proud of where he's come as a man and you know immaturity you know and sometimes you you're careful with saying a guy matured because they they think they're mature 17 right all these guys to uh but he's grown in so many different ways but you're right about what you're saying and he Hey Hey listen one thing I bet if you ask Chris that question Baldi I bet you he tell you off in the corner hey look I take some risk early because you know it's early right it's not but then when he realizes that hey wait a minute this is nut cutting time I'm not taking any chances here I'm gonna I know I need to do this this is my and he you know he bogs down and that's what he becomes but you know I the the that last play that you're talking about uh at the end of OT I mean it was called to get Chris a one-on-one right and I and I know there was a little bit of a mixup there but I mean you with the trust in him in those moments is if we can get him in a oneon-one you know hope he's going to win more of those battles than lose uh now fortunately it happened the way didn't he had to get it out pretty quick but um but you're you're right on and you you list some other guys Baldi that you know Michael OS manora you know could step up when he needed him to step up I mean you know even uh back with the um the group I had the second time and with the Giants with jpp and sure Olivier Vernon you know those guys were those guys were there too yeah hey you guys made a pickup in late October of Mike pennel yeah and he's he's bouncing around this league he is incredibly strong Steve like when Brett said hey we're going to bring this guy in like I don't remember what the injury situation was at the time but I thought he was a dominant force in his snaps on Sunday almost unblockable at times what did you see that right away Steve did you know about Mike well we had I tell you what we did and and and hey Anthony leave it the Bal to go right to the Big Fellas right had to go right to the Big Fellas although I give you credit Baldi you you were on the Trent McDuff LJ yeah yeah all over Trent just good I know you're all the way around well we had Mike here in 2019 oh in that first run and actually and we got a Mike borgoni who's one of our assistant GMS uh found him that back in 20 because we got him midseason that year too and he was he got released by Green you know he made a key play in the first San Francisco Super Bowl game in 2019 after 29 season it was early in the game nobody even recognizes this but they ran ran an allout Blitz in the first drive it was about 25 yard line and they Kyle called a a halfback what we call a halfback slip screen and it was wide open men because we were in man and we were coming off the edge and and sugs and Mike panel SI sniffed it out and were able to get the the running back at the time it wasn't mcaffrey on the ground had had they not I think he goes I think he goes in they score we held him to a field goal but they go in for Touchdown but getting back to Mike uh he was really key down the stretch here throughout the playoffs we had him on practice squad for most of the year right Derek nauy got hurt right we needed that Big B Derek NY we missed him uh but we needed that big bigger body inside there to let Chris do the things he does and and Mike stepped it up I mean he he kind of thrives in our system he loves being around our guys I loved having him here in 2019 and he went to some other places we were always trying to get him back uh and then it just kind of worked out this time so it was great the last guy I want to bring up is Leo Chanel because I feel like Steve in today's world if you need linebackers just go to Wisconsin the way they train these guys but you just honestly Steve I mean it's almost like a dinosaur he's a 250 255 pound guy yeah he can take on guards like he he's got a big strong body and I almost feel like those guys have almost been phased out of this leag because of the spread the speed but yet you find a way to keep him on the field I told Baldi I told him this morning in our exit VI interview that I'm we're finding more ways to get him on the field like right now he was mostly base and then I did have a package where he was a defensive end right slash outside linebacker because I did that with him when we got him when I got Drew here recognized we need to get more linebackers out there we called it peso and Penny I didn't get to it as much in this past game but he needs to be on the field because of all the things that you just said pound-for-pound he's the strongest player definitely on defense and might be on the whole team and he's this strong Baldi like you guys know be defense you get two three techniques right yeah well the way we get into that and we did it yesterday or Sunday you walk them right right up on the guard yeah he becomes the the three technique we did it like two or three times and we did it throughout the season but we we feel like that's another way for us to get into bear and and not have to you know put one of our ends on all the way down there and I mean so that's a I mean that's a compliment to Leo uh to be able to do that but we knew we could do he's just he loves football smart as a whip you know I remember doing the zoom interview with him and and so you guys are we're on the zoom right here Leo was like Leo was like this and he was into it I thought he was gonna beat up the zoom machine but when I got off the zoom I remember Brendan and I Brendon daily and I maybe Matt house at the time I can't remember we just walked around the the office and said we gotta get that guy you know what's funny is that we're talking about you know a 255 pound linebacker we we were talking about yeah youed check A full back or looking at you went through Baltimore Miami the whole thing and years ago I don't know if you remember this I mean I mean it had to be 06 07 when the game started to go really spread really light on the edges and you're like listen the the Run game the L all th all those that whole thing will come back into into Vogue again do you remember saying that you were talking about fullbacks coming back you were talking about the game the cycle of the cycal it does go in Cy I believe that and I I believe it'll it'll bring its way well look at I mean you know Kyle Shanahan's a really good example I mean they for everything that's going on in football now with all the spread and the throw and all that I mean he's he gets his team to the Super Bowl and is the number one offense in the league with primarily running it right or running set up the pass and movement passes and he's made quarterbacks better than you know I mean he he does it so it's a credit and that's a little bit to what you're saying Anthony and uh I do think it may eventually go who who knows it'll never get back completely the way it was me but you called it because we were talking about like it was like the the wedge had just been taken out of the game and and there was a lot of you know change going on in the game you're like listen we you know you're waiting for a team to kind of go back and have it and Baltimore's like that too Baltimore yeah Baltimore and listen they win a lot of football games too so you look at the teams that that have done what you're saying Anthony and there's been success there I would be very surprised if other teams aren't doing the same thing Detroit runs the football yes I mean really when you when it gets right down to it but yeah credit to those coaches to kind of shift away from the norm and defensively if yeah if you're it's like when we when we back in college when back in I was coaching in the Yankee conference back in the the80s right you guys remember of Maine the black bears I was at Connecticut UMass Maine and every year we had to play Delaware and Delaware ran the wing te well when you only see it once a year it's hard to defend but if everybody was running the wing te like everybody did like you're saying Anthony everybody got the spread then every the defenses catch up they know what they're seeing every week and you know you defend it a little bit better but when it's when you shift the other way like Delaware did for years uh they were hard to defend hey Steve I'm just um just go down you you're talking about back in the Yankee conference um if you just go back in time when you first joined with Andy in 99 and Jim Johnson is the defensive coordinate I can still hear his voice Steve like just bar too everybody can and everybody that's ever coached Ron Rivera Leslie all the guys that came out underneath Jim they always took something away and the way I see you blitzing defensive backs whether it's Reed or Trent or lerus off the edge whatever it is I almost feel like there's a part of being underneath the toage of Jim Johnson that is a part of Jim Johnson do you agree with that is that true Steve I would definitely agree with that that you know when I look back at that time I mean I had I had coordinated in college I coordinated in NFL Europe and listen I'm 39 years old at the time and you think you know everything at 39 right you know you think I'm you think you're ready to be an NFL coordinator at 39 or whatever it is and which back then would have been young now it's I mean you know old now now it's young everybody's you know they're doing it at 25 now but the the one thing that that I grew an utmost respect for Jim was if we put a pressure in during the week to run in that game and let's say for some reason it didn't work the first time okay most coaches would go away from it scrap not Jim not Jim he would he would he believed in what we did during the week and he stuck with it and inevitably you know it would win us a lot of downs but because I remember as a young coordinator I was at the University of Connecticut and you'd have all these ideas during the week you put a couple in and then all of a sudden it doesn't go right the first time you're like oh I'm not I'm not running that again you know didn't work I'm not running that again but but I learned from Jim that listen if you believed in it during the week for a certain reason then why not stick with it um during the game but he was he was legendary with all that I mean I learned about the overloaded pressures from Jim um because that's what a lot of his stuff was all about and I mean it was it's really nice to operate those things when you got like a Brian Dawkins help uh but I but I've been blessed along the way to have guys and this unit this group that we had this year we did quite a bit of that because of again I'm going back to the high IQ of these guys because some of that some of that stuff can be really risky um if you're not on point and a lot and and it really takes a lot of continuity and cohesiveness which I thought we had H how does this group compare to the Giants group like so we we were when we were in Vegas we sat down with Antonio baly and I and he was giving you all the all the flowers in the world you know love he loves you and he's so bright and he's got such great like energy about him he's great just you know just reminded me like you know of of of you how like he just was so he was awesome but how do those two how does that group and then and and this group compare because I think they're very they're very interesting very high IQ those two units well both units begin with the person in the middle and you talk to the key one and Antonio and then I would match him with Nick uh by the way going back to Antonio I told his dad five years ago he was going to be a head coach in the NFL wow because I just I just saw that in him I I brought him to New York in 2017 he kind of worked behind the scenes with us after he had coached five years in high school but I when when Antonio played you could see that you you talked about the people skills BDI yeah you could see that he was the one guy on the team that could go into any of the meeting rooms and connect them he could connect linebackers with DBS D Lin with he just has that unique he can talk everybody's language the street he can be in a tuxedo in Washington DC right he can rub elbows with everybody he's just got that NE so I'm I'm happy as heck for him I'm so proud of him but getting back to the two units Anthony uh they begin with the guy in the middle and Nick and Antonio are two of the highest IQ players I've ever been around because you have that guy he can get it to the other 10 this this uh you know between the two groups I don't I'm not sure we had more experience in New York CU there was some youth there too but it was you know it was one year of getting everybody together but when you have you know when you have a you know a future Hall of Famer and Michael Strahan and you had ocur uh Justin Tu uh he was in Tuck was in his third year I think yeah he he was you had Antonio in the middle we had Sam Madison who had been a first round pick and he was you know come from the Dolphins and all that so there was a little bit more veteran leadership this group is just so in tune to each other and glued together by Nick Bolton that they function just so real like a well oiled machine as we got going and I would say this don't lose sight of how important Drew tranquil was to to Our Success D because Nick was out I don't know like a four five game stretch there and we didn't skip a beat because of Drew so um you know credit to Brett V and his gang getting those guys here and then our assistant coaches kind of melting the whole thing together it's it's so it's so interesting how those how this group it felt so tight and then you guys let's face it like we all and Andy said it when we had Andy on he was you know giving you all you guys you and your side of the ball so much of the credit because like they needed you to carry to carry them through this thing yeah I mean I got our guys felt that and they they embraced it you know I mean when when we know the offense was struggling a little bit our guys Embrace Hey put it on us I mean I remember Nick saying you know Nick would be like go ahead punt the ball we're good we'll get it back for you you know that's a that's a lot of confidence uh in going out there but I will say this thank God we got Patrick Mahomes in the offense because when you can put it in their hands at the end of the game in the Super Bowl and overtime and they can drive the field and score a touchdown I'm I'm all for that give them give him the MVPs give him all the MVP what's what what's let's talk about him for a second because he you know I mean there's there's every B he's got that Jordan quality man it's just I mean you've been around these great athletes I mean he's got that thing that sets him apart you know he there's just such an inner confidence in him like I've you've never seen the guy waver I mean even walking through the hallway during the week I mean you can see just he just spews confidence there isn't anything he can't do I mean guy can you pick up a pingpong t he probably beat everybody in pingpong you said you play golf with him you're like it's not even fair oh yeah play first gut here it's like I can't and he hadn't even been playing for like you know half a year or something it was just so evident the club head speed was ridiculous you know and but he just he just blessed with talent but you know the other thing too is is a lot like Tom Brady he gets the team Dynamic like he knows how important a whole team is it's not all about one phase or all about one person he gets to he gets the whole money part of it and how you know I mean he gets that and that's that's rare that's very rare you know I I remember one time Steve we were here in Atlantic City Andy was with Pat I think Patrick was the MVP you know Jaws in the Maxwell awards were honoring him and I had I had to delivered some awards I'm backstage and I'm talking to Patrick and Andy's there and Patrick's like you know Baldi I could be a starting free safety in this league I'm like I'm sure you can Pat but you're the MVP of the league also but almost feel like he could play on some level Steve easy he could play free safety easy easy I bet I'd do it now I mean I if Andy if Andy would allow it I'd have him go both ways yeah because he's he's not gonna shy away from contact and you know he's going to take the right angles and you know he's just going to embrace it he probably has like just watching him being around him a little bit you know he's got ball skills so if he gets his hands on it you know he's catching it he's got as good at ball skills as I think Odell Beckham Jr is the best ball schols I've ever seen have been around and Patrick could be standing right up to him too yeah yeah you you know what's cool is uh I I always love the relationship aspect too and and I want to talk about you and Andy in a second but uh Andy and Patrick like that relationship is it's just pure like it's it's a beautiful thing it's you know it's why we all love sports and played Sports and you know like there is something uplifting thing when you're doing it together with someone that you love and respect and you go through these battles and they they they have that I'll tell you so you know I was a high school quarterback and my high school coach I have he's passed but have a special re relationship with them I always felt like the the head coach quarterback relationship was a unique thing now I had the I'm I'm G to get I want to get to Patrick and Andy here in a second but I had the you know the fort Good Fortune to do that with Sam Bradford in St Louis and we had a meeting every Saturday morning him and I and I just thought and so the reason I'm bringing that up is I watch Andy and so I watch Patrick on Friday afternoons it's about like three o'clock in the afternoon most of the players are gone by now and the coaches are making their way out and Patrick would pass by my office and he's going in with Andy and they they'll sit in there that's probably a good hour and they're I'm sure they're talking about game strategy what plays you like but but that hour I'm sure Andy values as I'm sure Patrick values it because then I'll see him walk out you know I'll usually say hey have a good night I'll see you tomorrow but I just I loved watching that every Friday because I knew and the wall the the room that Annie's in the W I'm my office is right there so I'm sure they're in there having these high depth conversations and probably about everything life and the whole thing and then I'm on the other end trying to get my tape done for the Saturday morning meeting but I always cherished and loved the fact that they were doing that but you know what's interesting like even on Sunday Steve there was a stretch where obviously the offense was struggling a little bit and they they hadn't really found their groove and I see Andy sitting down next to Patrick they got the video they're going through whatever they're going through but you know even when you first got there like Andy was like maybe Matt neie does it more now but like he's like you've got the defense Steve it's yours like Andy's there with Patrick and it's like you're the head coach now you call your defense and I just feel like there's that massive trust that Andy has like you're looking at it and Andy's here I'm I'm trying to fix my offense you run the defense Steve I don't know that every organization can can be like that but I feel like Andy has that level of trust where I'm gonna sit down I'm G work for my quarterback right now I see it all the time yeah that listen I'm glad you brought it up Bal that's one of the things that I respect Andy so much about I mean when he he he lets his coaches coach and you're right from day one and I think it goes back to how he is in Philadelphia he had a lot of confidence in what we were doing and and it's nice to know listen it's reassuring to know that the head coach feels that way about you on the other side of the ball the only thing I'm always doing is I'm always looking for them when we need a challenge flag you know so I'm always right on the heads we need get Andy we need a much and he's always right there he's always right there but uh no listen there's a so much mutual respect and trust and and you know I love the man I mean you guys too you guys have been around I don't have to tell you anything you don't know um but it's it's it's great to have hey I got to tell you about prize picks you want to talk about the greatest way to play DFS so if you're like geek like me and Baldi like I love box scores and yards and you know when it comes to Yak or assists or home runs total bases goalie saves like I love it oh well you uh people at prize picks uh of course they love it love it love it and it's the best way to play DFS in fact I'm looking at it right now so let's look at tonight so if I want to go with I don't know Samson off who's the goalie for the uh Maple Leafs I go more or less 24 and a half saves now I can match him up with six other ones go more or less and attach him together and I just get get payouts like if it all hits it's all paid out so there's stat projections it's simple and you just pick more or less so I want to go to the NBA I click on the NBA and look here we go for tonight's games here are this here are the stat projections and I can go more or less all I got to do is pick two to six of these players more or less putting together it's prize picks it's going to be your new favorite game Trust trust me you're going to love it prize picks right now in fact download the app use the code all NFL you get a deposit match up to a 100 bucks when you use our code all NFL prize picks this is the real way to play DFS what did he say to you like like as those moment because you guys he looked for you and he he gave you a hug like what was those final moments like yeah the the the the prior years I've always gotten to him first but the way it happened in this game I was down I was behind the office because you don't want to get in the way right they're rolling right Andy was out the other end and it happened so quick the other ones I think we had Neil down so you knew it was coming but the first person I saw to my right was Drew tranquil and I'm glad it was Drew because Drew is one of those guys that had not won it last year with us right he was new so it was he had not won a playoff game with the charges and I was all all the whole playoff run I really had him on my heart and on my mind to to win one and so I was glad I had chance to give I didn't find Andy until after they did the whole Awards thing and he I was going up the the thing he was coming down the stays I finally got a chance to give a big hug but uh I who who knows what's even said it's just all about hugs and how much we love each other because it's a pretty special moment one last thing for me Steve it's you this the first Super Bowl with the new overtime rules yeah so you know the game ends okay 1919 whatever um San Francisco wins the toss what were you expecting San Fran were you expecting San Francisco to take the ball were you already getting your defense ready to go and take the field Steve did you explain to him that regardless what happens we did you explain make sure that everybody knew that this thing wasn't going to crash and burn regardless of what happened how how' you approach it well we we didn't have to I mean because we we went through it every game I did it every Saturday night Andy did it or Mike Fraser did it for Andy every I think Saturday morning oh yes he did it Saturday morning I would reemphasize it Saturday night from a defensive perspective you know are we gonna go out there and it's going to be get him to punt the ball on fourth down you know because it was or or do we know they're going to go for it on fourth down like which is what San Francisco's defense went through right um you know I I wasn't I didn't you got to wait to see who wins the coin toss right you don't know sure how it's GNA go and then quickly after the coin toss Was Won by them and they decide to take it we're just up on defense I don't even think I just wait all right let me know let me know what we're doing we're either gonna be on the sideline watching Patrick and then we know what we got to do or we're going out there and and I tell you the the one play that sticks in my craw if I'm being real honest is the third and 13 in overtime I mean I thought we had him stop there and we get flat now I haven't seen the play I don't have a judgment call on whether it was a I don't feel or not but that that one just bugs the heck out of me that we couldn't get it right back to Patrick with no points that's the goal right and then you know he comes down and he'll he'll find a way to kick a field goal you know we we have that much confidence in but unfortunately they got it and then they drove and we did we did hold him to a field goal and and we still know we got a chance with Patrick at least get to continue Us in overtime right uh but just like true to his form and we just got done talking about he he leads us down there and scores a touchdown all right let Let's uh wind down this conversation with you and I'm going to make you feel uncomfortable and of course you are but you you deserve this like this is again I'll reiterate how we started four Super Bowl victories the only coordinator that has ever done that in the history of this league and you know I'm going to say this because you won't but it it's hard for you like if you wanted to go and be a head coach again the fact that you guys are always deep in the postseason like it almost like oddly in a sick way works against you because teams want to be wrapped up and everything else and you guys are playing so late into February that it doesn't you know come into play what like what what's where are you at now with your career with four titles under you yeah well listen the whole playoff run thing a blessing and a curse exactly like you laid it out Anthony because listen I I'm not an owner uh but you we all understand the business and to to wait that long I get it you know and then you wait and let's say something strange happens I mean we know that's happened in this league right they wait and they don't get and then you know then you're into Plan B so it's tough I I I get it I understand it I wouldn't you know listen I I I want to we want to keep winning games and I'll take one in Super Bowls I'm good there guys I mean that's a not too many people I'm blessed to be in the middle of it would I like to be a head coach again yes uh did does do all of us that have ever done it before uh have a drive and some pride to prove maybe what happened early wrong yeah absolutely and listen I I go back to the St Louis days guys I I'm still proud of what we did I think what gets lost in the shuffle is where the second year there after going one and 15 we got them we beat sa we beat Seattle in that last game we're hosting a playoff game now it didn't happen so you know that's this game right we were talking earlier about how close it was for Trent you know that's how it is with coaches too you know one game one turnover you know uh CH poor Kyle look at Kyle's going through right now right that's a great football coach Kyle shanan and yet for whatever reason in in you know some of the couple of these key games that's happened to him but I still got a great deal of respect for him so listen we'll see you guys know how I am I put it in God's control and and if his will is for for Maria and I to do that again I'm all for it uh if not I'm I'm still a blessed man I I get to come on here with you guys what's what's hey uh you listen you get to go for a threee I mean that's cool that that's pretty cool and and a great challenge Andy talked about it this morning in the team meeting and listen these guys all I know about pro athletes yourself all you guys included baly you were one that you all love a challenge right so lay the challenge out there and let's let's go get it I mean one of the uh one of the players it might have been Noah or uh that that said the same but you know immediately was hey three Pat sounds good like they already guys like that they're built that way they're wired now we'll get through the parade tomorrow and we'll worry about that uh later on but I'll good stuff man I appreciate it I probably gotta run here go thank you Steve go man we we love you and uh we're very proud of you yeah you know the feelings Mutual we'll get uh we'll get to that Jersey sh sometime this summer yeah the kids are waiting for you together you guys are the best thanks man all the best buddy you got it up there he is the uh the great Steve Spagnola world champion Steve Spagnola I mean four time world champion I mean he's 58 Super Bowls he's got four wins four of the 58 I mean Bal how you think about that how first of all uh this is just us Steve's off right now we we just uh we love we love this stuff no I mean I could I mean we just talked to Steve for an hour and he was so so good with his time and I'm sure he's being running around all over the place especially in anticipation of the pradey tomorrow like there's still like there's still talking about the game amongst their players exit interviews Andre's got a team meeting like it's still kind of there's still business on the you know before all this celebration takes place that we'll see on TV one little thing at the end that I think it's worth kind of pointing out m is that we talked about three Pete and he said yeah Andy brought that up this morning and all this talk about Andy stepping down I mean p like are you crazy like like there's no way in the world he's gonna step down but I find it really interesting because if Andy's bringing up three Pat yeah maybe he wants to be a part of that three P I would imagine yeah that's right yeah that was great hey uh I hope you enjoyed this is the kind of content that we love and that we're going to bring you guys please hit the Subscribe button please and uh throughout the course the offseason we're going to get deeply into college into the college into the draft but you're going to hear from a lot of the players they're going to come visit with us just like coach players and coaches yeah across the board for balm C have a great day [Music] guys we all sitting like the May

Channel: ALL NFL Podcast

Views: 66,350

Keywords: NFL, NFL Podcast, NFL Show, NFL News, NFL Updates, NFL Football, NFL Talk Show, Sports, Sports Show, Sports Talk, NFL Sports, AFC, NFC, Football Podcast, Football Show, Football Updates, Football News, Football conversation, Football, ALL CITY, ALL NFL, PHLY, DNVR, PHNX, CHGO, National, National Show, Super Bowl, Chiefs, 49ers, SBLVIII, Chiefs Kingdom, FTTB, Brock Purdy, Patrick Mahomes

Id: Owd8dtn-HVU

Length: 57min 26sec (3446 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 14 2024