For almost the entirety of Patrick Mahomes's time with the Kansas City Chiefs, the team was known as an offense-first club. All of that changed this season when the team morphed into one that fielded perhaps the best defense in all of football. Schematic advantages and talent are the main contributors, but intangibles also factored into the equation.
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, now in year No. 5 in Kansas City, has built a reputation as a beloved coach both locally and league-wide. Why is that the case? He has a tremendous amount of love and respect for his players.
Speaking to the media ahead of Super Bowl LVIII, defensive end George Karlaftis praised Spagnuolo for how he fosters such a productive environment.
"Just the love, you know?" Karlaftis said. "You can tell that Spags loves each and every one of us like we're his kids, man. And I don't know if there's a way to convey that, necessarily, but you can just tell that he loves us and cares for each person whether it's Chris Jones that's going to be a Hall of Famer or a rookie on the practice squad. He loves each and every person the same, he cares for each person, he wants every person to succeed. At the end of the day, he runs a program that starts with that faith, that love and that trust in each other and then everything kind of takes care of itself from there. But I'd just say that — it's hard to put in words — but you can feel it when you're around him and you play for Coach."
Karlaftis is far from the only player who has a special appreciation for who Spagnuolo is as a person and coach. Late last month, safety Justin Reid piggybacked on the support of his teammates and pushed 'In Spags We Trust' t-shirts while referring to Spagnuolo as his favorite coordinator ever. On Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night, star defensive tackle Chris Jones said it was "very surprising" that Spagnuolo didn't get considered for any of the NFL's recent head coaching vacancies that opened up.
Under Spagnuolo, Kansas City has developed a blend of continuity and trust that seemingly can't be slowed down. A season ago, the organization invested heavily in draft picks and brought in Reid to help in the secondary. Now, those players are in their second seasons in the system and were supplemented by offseason pickups like Charles Omenihu, Drue Tranquill and Mike Edwards. While Omenihu is out on Sunday due to a torn ACL, the rest of the pieces remain in place.
The result is a unit that ranked among the five best in football during the regular season. That same group held the Miami Dolphins' high-flying offense to just one score in the Wild Card Round and likely 2023-24 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson to 10 points in the AFC title game. Up next, the final boss level is finding a way to contain a San Francisco 49ers offense that boasts impressive talent just about everywhere.
Thanks to Spagnuolo and his staff, each player is fully bought in and thriving in his role. It's the byproduct of a lot of work over the past year-plus. The statistics can be measured at both an individual and team level, but the recent bond formed cannot. Championship culture and DNA are critical in the playoffs, which Kansas City has in abundance on that side of the ball. From top to bottom, it's clear that Spagnuolo wants everyone to do well.
More must-reads: