Spags Speaks: Taking Break
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Spags Speaks: Taking Break
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell sat down with fired Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo Friday, mostly to talk about what happened to end his three-year tenure in St. Louis, but also about Spagnuolo's future.
Spagnuolo told Burwell there had been exploratory conversations with NFL teams, but that no one has offered him a job. He told Burwell he was leaving Saturday for a four-day break with his wife, Maria, who is from Philadelphia, to think things over and prepare to move forward.
He did not confirm or deny he had been in contact with the Eagles, who are evaluating the fate of defensive coordinator Juan Castillo. Spagnuolo was an Eagles defensive assistant from 1999-2006.
"In all honesty, I don't know," he said. "I was let go on Monday, and today's Friday and I am very blessed in this way. The phone has been ringing. There has been contact (from several teams), but I have asked that everyone respect the fact that I need some time to figure out what I want to do next, and so far, everyone has."
Asked how much time he needs to figure out what he wants to do next, Spagnuolo said: "I don't know. I'm not sure."
Spagnuolo mentioned that he might take a year off and spend it with Maria. She laughed off that notion.
"I know Steve, and I told him no way," she said, laughing. "There's no way he will be able to sit around for a year doing nothing. … He loves coaching way too much to sit around idly for a year."
"There are two extremes for what I'd ultimately like to do, and a lot of possibilities in between," he said. "The extremes are 1) sitting out a year, or 2) getting another head coaching job. One is realistic, the other probably isn't very realistic. No one has asked me to be a head coach yet and I'm not saying that is going to happen. But everything in between — like being a coordinator again, or maybe a position coach — yeah, those are both realistic possibilities. Would I think about a college job? No. I love this league too much."
Here is a link to Burwell's column.
So, if the Eagles are going to continue their defensive reordering, which began with the Saturday dismissal of secondary coach Johnny Lynn, it would seem they will not be able to hire Spagnuolo at least until mid- to late week.
It'll be interesting to see if the Giants have a defensive coordinator opening by then, should they lose today to Atlanta. Spagnuolo was their defensive coordinator four years ago, when they beat the unbeaten Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Give him a title just like Marty: Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator.— mish798798- The Eagles will stall just long enough for someone else to sign him, ( PROBABLY THE GIANTS ) Then they'll turn around and use the excuse that they tried getting him but he signed some where else. Then Reid will use that to justify bringing Castillo back.— Geno D
- Could that Ringling Brothers pop up ad get any bigger??— kjuggs77
- Firefox and Adblock - problem solved! — gdibig
- As I predicted earlier this week, Spags will sign with the Giants, and the Eagles will say circumstances prevented them from hiring someone else, like they said last year, and will go with Juan again.— watsonmr
- I hear ya watsonmr, It's a joke! They want us to believe they're thinking about Spags. We all know whats going on here.... The best part is, the front office will turn it all around and blame it on Spags for not coming here....... They play the same $#!T with the players when it comes time to pay them.— Geno D
- The Eagles need new blood in their coaching team. They have promoted from within for the last 5-7 years without any benefits to the team.— tulsaphil
- There's plenty of proven candidates out there besides Spagnolulo--Del Rio was a DC before he became a HC; if the Giants fire Fewell, there's another one; there's Todd Bowles in Miami.— bobbyuk
- I agree with Geno. They will stall until Spags is gone. I've supported Reid from day one but if Juan is back then I'm done with this team.— Norm3
- You are a liar Norm. When the ball gets kicked off you will be watching the games as usual and buying the merchandise. IUf you have been an Eagles fan for 30 years, there is no way that last years 8-8 season was the final straw. How did you make it through 20 + years of 6-10 to quit now?— UncleStosh
- tulsaphil, I've thought about this as well & I agree the coaching needs some fresh blood. I don't even want Juan back coaching the O-line. Look how much better they are with Mudd.— Norm3
- Ok Unc, you know me real well. You didn't even read my post correctly.— Norm3
- The Eagles could hire Spags, today and you fools would still find something negative to say and definitely find something to complain about. You folks whine like a bunch of bbbbbbs.— charmaine
- This looks like more shoddy reporting from Domo. THE GIANTS WILL NOT HAVE A VACANCY!!! FEWELL IS SIGNED THRU NEXT SEASON!!! PFT reported that early this week - maybe you guys could do as much homework as Florio. Far as the birds hiring him, one can only hope that the fat man wises up & gives Spags whatever he wants. He already fired Lynn so he can save his best friend Juan by demoting him to secondary coach.— thomaspfoolery
Comment removed.- One of Howie's accountant friends knows a little about defense. We're going to hire him. He'll come cheaper than Spags.— Luriesucks
- you might be closer to the truth than you know. — coloradoeagle
- What time do the Eagles play?— p-diddy
- It does not matter who gets the job if they don't bring in a middle linebacker and safety that can knock the head off of guys.— rockinrob
- Spags not likely to go to Giants imo... "been there, done that."
Eagles opportunity might be enticing from the standpoint of the existing talent on D (albeit "unbalanced"). Downside would be existence of Washburn and the wide 9 (assuming AR wants to stick with it). Andy potentially being a short-timer could be both a plus and a minus.
I actually think the Eagles would be smart to stay with Castillo at this point - no sense starting over on one side of the ball when your owner is practically on record saying that you must get at least to the conf championship game.— Mr. Magee - id stick with juan. spags is good but hes not the right juan for the job.— azguz
- We've got good news and bad news. The good news is that the Eagles hired Steve Spagnuolo to replace Juan Castillo. The bad news is that the Eagles hired Steve Spagnuolo to replace Juan Castillo as Offensive Line Coach.— AreaMan
- As a Giants fan.....Fewell is signed and is one of the top DC in the NFL after todays Giants Win. Giants are in the best shape ever with Fewell. Philly needs all the help they could get....hope they enjoyed the Giants game today!— MRD
- Why would we want a proven pathetic loser. He got FIRED because he is incompetent and lost his team. Unless he's coming with Strahan to run things like he did for him in NY he will be a pathetic loser here too. If anything he should replace MORNINWEG who took a star studded offense and turned them into a 38 turnover laughing stock.— Dallasrulez
- Dream Team— curley
- Comment removed.
- WOULD SPAGS REALLY WANT TO COACH FOR THIS WEASEL OWNER. I WOUKD GET AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE.— Pete60
Sorry to say this folks but anybody who thinks its "better to keep" Juan now is a boob:)- Comment removed.
- Actually I heard the Cowboys wanted to replace Rob Ryan who had an awful year in Dallas.
BYW Mike Vick was voted the 20th best player in the NFL. Tebow was not rated. Tebow won his first playoff game against one of the Elite teams in the NFL Vick will watch the game from hios livingroom and get another Maxwell Award.— mario1239 - Hold on they can look at the Steelers staff for a DC now that they lost and can move Jaun to secondary like Tom foolery said. Then only the secondary will suck because they are being coached like an O-line.— urbnasty
- I certainly would not mind having a guy who worked with Jim Johnson stepping into the defensive coordinator position.........— flyerrod
- Because the defensive drafts have been so poor, I don't know if even Spags can cover up all the personnel deficiencies ...
But the Eagles are gonna have a major PR disaster on their hands if they don't bring in a "qualified" DC.
— Lil Ratman
