Bowling Green State University Athletics
Former Falcon Named NFL Head Coach
January 19, 2009 | Football
Jan. 19, 2009
ST. LOUIS - Steve Spagnuolo, the new head coach of the St. Louis Rams, once spent time on the sidelines at Doyt L. Perry Stadium as the BGSU secondary coach in 1996 and 1997 under then head coach Gary Blackney.
Complete St. Louis Rams' Release
The Rams have chosen Steve Spagnuolo as their new head coach, the team announced officially on Saturday evening.
Spagnuolo, the New York Giants defensive coordinator, and the Rams agreed on a four-year deal only hours after Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett departed St. Louis following his one night visit.
Spagnuolo was believed to be a favorite of ownership after an impressive presentation and interview in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon.
Rams owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez along with senior adviser John Shaw, general manager Billy Devaney and director of player personnel Lawrence McCutcheon were part of three interviews this week involving Spagnuolo, Garrett and Minnesota defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.
After those interviews concluded, Devaney made his recommendation to ownership. That recommendation as it turned out, was Spagnuolo.
"We considered some very qualified and outstanding candidates for this position but we kept coming back to Steve Spagnuolo," Devaney said.
Rosenbloom said he was in agreement with Devaney after all of the hard work his general manager put in to find the right candidate.
"On behalf of Lucia (Rodriguez), Stan (Kroenke) and me, Billy did a spectacular job of presenting some fabulous candidates," Rosenbloom said. "We're very excited that Steve will be our head coach and are looking forward to an exciting season."
In his two seasons in New York, Spagnuolo's defenses have earned a reputation for a fierce pass rush combined with exotic and creative blitz schemes. With the likes of Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora at his disposal, it wasn't a major surprise the Giants defense had such success rushing the passer in 2007.
This season, the Giants played without a retired Strahan and lost Umenyiora to injury before the season. Spagnuolo's unit still finished the season ranked fifth in defense, allowing 292 yards per contest.
New York's front four was so dominant in 2007 and in the playoffs, that it earned Spagnuolo a raise to about $2 million a year, making him one of the highest paid assistants in the league.
Spagnuolo is well respected and liked by his players for his ability to take into account their thoughts, adjust his game plans accordingly and resistance to point fingers when something goes wrong.
Considering Spagnuolo's history, it's not surprising that his defenses mirror his personality. Spagnuolo cut his teeth under legendary Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jim Johnson for eight seasons as a defensive assistant, defensive backs and linebackers coach for the Eagles.
There, Spagnuolo, 49, learned the many exotic and creative blitz packages that Johnson has a reputation for.
Spagnuolo took those principles with him to New York, running a base 4-3 defense that emphasizes a variety of blitz packages and various other ways to create pressure on the quarterback.
"Steve has been on some outstanding defensive staffs during his ten seasons in the NFL," Devaney said. "He represented what we were looking for when this process began."
Born in Whitinsville, Mass., Spagnuolo played his college football at Springfield College where he was a wide receiver.
An east coast guy through and through, Spagnuolo developed a relationship with Devaney when the two were with the Redskins at the same time in 1983. At the time, Spagnuolo was a player personnel intern while Devaney was a scout.
A decade later, Spagnuolo was a scout in San Diego where Devaney was director of player personnel. That relationship combined with the Giants playoff run helped Devaney skip the preliminaries with Spagnuolo and advance him directly to the finalist round of interviews.
