Why Spags Departing Chiefs Feels Inevitable This Time

Familiar face in Tennessee

Tennessee general manager Mike Borgonzi is heading the search and he’s very familiar with Spagnuolo. The two worked together in Kansas City from 2019-24 while Borgonzi was assistant general manager after his promotion from director of football operations.

Asked last week about his interest in becoming a head coach again, Spagnuolo was focused on the team’s final game, which wound up a 14-12 loss at Las Vegas.

“I'm not gonna go down that road right now,” Spagnuolo said Thursday. “I mean, I'm involved in in this. But listen, I'm a prideful guy. We'll see what happens at the end of the year.”

Spagnuolo is annually on head-coach interview lists, not simply because he’s guided one of the NFL’s most formidable defensive units over the past seven seasons. He also has head-coach experience, albeit a failed first career tenure at the reins of the St. Louis Rams from 2009-11.

ideal situation likely in New York

Spagnuolo also served as interim head coach of the New York Giants in 2017.

And while Spagnuolo is annually on those interview lists, teams have had to wait for him to become exclusively available because the Chiefs are always in the midst of deep playoff runs.

Not this year. Kansas City has missed the postseason for the first time since 2014, and Spagnuolo is ready to interview. But don’t think Spagnuolo will accept just any job.

The only offensive or defensive coordinator in NFL history to win Super Bowls with multiple franchises, and the only to earn four Super Bowl rings in that role, Spagnuolo is expected to interview teams as much as they interview him.

His ideal opportunity could be with the Giants, though. New York has an exciting young franchise quarterback already in place in Jaxson Dart. That organization also is one of the more respected franchises in the league, with stable ownership.

Spagnuolo obviously has familiarity with the team, having helped the Giants to a Super Bowl victory over Tom Brady’s Patriots in 2007.

Among NFL teams in points allowed per game, over the last three seasons, Spagnolo’s unit has finished sixth (19.3 in 2025), fourth (19.2 in 2024) and second (17.3 in 2023).

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