The Spags Saga

The arc of a man's journey through life resembles more a boy's scribble than the neat and tidy flight of an arrow, which explained one particular man's presence inside a hotel bar on the outskirts of New Orleans on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Second Line Sports Edition Lounge at the Hilton New Orleans Airport hotel urged patrons to forego the dizzying French Quarter with the promise of free appetizers, discounted beers and a bead-less sanctuary for the Big Game. Of course, this being the day of a pig-out, drink-up American holiday, few people accepted the hotel's offer, save our particular man, who had a powerful connection to the game.

After all, Steve Spagnuolo had built his name on this game back in 2008 - and what with it being the Giants and Patriots again this year, this exact matchup.

Only the Patriots were better back in 2008, when Spags faced them as the Giants' defensive coordinator in Super Bowl XLII. They were wicked alien types back then, coming off three titles in 6 years and actually sporting a defense, plus a savage offense that racked up a record 589 points, flexing into the 50s twice, the 40s twice, and hitting 38 points four times, including once against Spagnuolo's Giants in the season finale, a Patriot victory that brought New England's record to 16-0.

But then Spagnuolo, a Massachusetts man himself, hijacked New England's perfection.

He had leapt from Eagles linebackers coach to the Giants' D-coordinator the previous offseason, even though insider talk had dubbed New York head coach Tom Coughlin a lame duck. Spagnuolo fretted about drawing another promotion offer, so he took his shot with Coughlin, much like he took a shot in that game against Brady. And on that big night in the Arizona desert, he tactically dismantled football's Death Star. In the process, he became the hottest coordinator in the sport. Kingmakers across the league concurred, "Spags? Definitely head-coach material."

That was 4 years ago. Four years? He had to laugh. Over that time, he had rejected a chance to become a head coach and return to the Giants. Then in 2009, he decided to become head coach in St. Louis and suffered through one of the most painful first seasons you can imagine, with a talentless team that might as well have been called the Sacrificial Rams. But the next year he pumped life and enthusiasm back into that carcass of a franchise for the first time since the Greatest Show on Turf days, even playing a win-and-you're-in game in Week 16. But the enthusiasm was extinguished last fall, under the most unrealistic expectations, when the Rams opened the season against the Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Redskins, Packers, Cowboys and Saints, and then suffered through a series of injuries that took down the star running back, the franchise quarterback, the team's best wide receiver, both starting offensive tackles and five cornerbacks.

And so he got fired at the end of the season, with a year left on his deal. He received offers to run defenses for several teams, including the one in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia. But he eventually accepted the Saints' defensive-coordinator job. That's what led him to this purgatorial lobby bar as one of 111.3 million Americans watching the Super Bowl on television.

And now to the question that burns: Why did Steve Spagnuolo choose the Saints over the Eagles?

"I don't know how to say it," he says. "It wasn't picking one team over the other. I was blessed to have a few opportunities. When it was all said and done, coming to New Orleans seemed like the right thing to do. I didn't make a ledger and compare head coaches and quarterbacks. I just felt like for my wife, Maria, and I, at this moment in time, New Orleans felt like the right thing to do."

One by one, he then proceeded to reject all of the reasons that we heard from everyone except, well, Steve Spagnuolo. That Andy Reid might be a lame-duck coach heading into next season. That he didn't want to work with Juan Castillo. That he didn't want to work with Jim Washburn. That he liked Drew Brees over Michael Vick. That he preferred the Saints' defensive personnel over the Eagles' defensive personnel. That he thought the Saints had a better chance to win a Super Bowl than the Eagles.

"I'm telling you, I didn't compare people," he says. "I know there was a lot of speculation like that. The truth is I just felt like this was the right place. Don't make it like a slap in the face. New Orleans was just the right place at this particular time. That stuff can change in the future. All part of the journey."

Such has always been his journey, dating way back to the beginning, when he was a graduate assistant at football-light UMass. From there, he landed as a player-personnel intern for the Redskins, then moved, in succession, to Lafayette, UConn, the Barcelona Dragons, Maine, Rutgers, Bowling Green, the Frankfurt Galaxy, and the Eagles, where he was a defensive assistant from 1999-2000, defensive-backs coach from '01-'03 and linebackers coach from '04-'06.

In Philadelphia, Steve Spagnuolo found a home, and prospered as a coach. He enjoyed long talks with Andy Reid and loved his defensive boss, Jim Johnson. He studied Johnson's ways and his schemes and his uncanny feel for the blitz, adopting everything except the old man's love of cussing. Spags isn't really a cusser. Johnson, God rest his soul, could have ruled Deadwood.

Spagnuolo fell in love in Philadelphia. This is where he met Maria, a Philadelphia girl if there ever was one: sharp, pretty and secure, and so he built a life here.

In fact, they kept the house, a classic Philadelphia rowhome, up a little street on the edge of Center City. He also kept up his annual visit down the Shore. Every summer, right around the Fourth of July, just before the call of training camp, they'd do Avalon with Maria's family.

You probably don't want to hear any of this. You're probably out on his ode to Philadelphia. Except that, the day after Andy Reid spoke for the first time about Spagnuolo's availability, Spags texted me and asked to explain himself because he didn't "want anyone at home to be angry" with him.

"I anguished over the decision," Spags says. "I love it there. It's as much my home as anywhere I've been. I have strong ties to that organization. The relationships I have there with Andy, Jeffrey Lurie, Joe Banner, the city. They run deep. I spent 8 years with that team. It was a very hard decision. I had to remove the emotional part of that attachment to make the decision, and let me tell you that was tough to do."

Let's turn it around. Where would you go?

There is another question that provides the answer. Which place provides the quickest route back to being a head coach?

Make no mistake. Spagnuolo thirsts for another chance at a top job, perhaps even more now that he's had the experience. He liked being in charge. He liked having the big office. And while he won't say it, he didn't get the fairest of treatments in St. Louis, and he'd like redemption. He'd like for St. Louis to be for him what Cleveland is to Belichick.

There is a human side to the experience, you know. Spagnuolo heard the rumors for the last month of the season that his job was in peril. The Sunday night of the seaon finale, he saw the scrolls on ESPN and the NFL Network that reported his dismissal. He didn't find out for sure until that next morning back at the complex. He had scheduled a 10 a.m. team meeting, and he was informed shortly before.

He still had the team meeting. He wanted to thank his players. He told them he would remain at the complex for another 4, 5 hours, and he deemed it humbling that just about every single player came to say goodbye.

"It was really important to address the team," he says. "I let them know how much I appreciated them and that I'd remain their biggest fans. When that was over, I spent some time in the building. I thanked all of the people in the business office, the ticket office, the marketing department. I let all of the people know how much I appreciated what they had done.

"I was lucky. Sometimes you just get a call at home. I certainly do not agree with the decision they made. How could I? In situations like that, you need to respect the decisions that are made and move on. Sometimes rejection is God's protection. That doesn't make it any easier. I still have my days."

Andy Reid was the first to reach out to him. Spagnuolo told his friend that he needed some time to clear his head, and so he and his wife fled to Mexico. He lay on the beach, stared at the waves and pondered his future. Isn't that what you would do?

Twelve days later, he started talking with teams, including the Eagles. The Falcons were interested. The Vikings called. So did the Colts. And then the Saints did. In the ultimate irony, Jeff Fisher - who had replaced Spags in St. Louis - had lured Gregg Williams from New Orleans. Now, Sean Peyton wanted Spagnuolo to take Williams' old job.

"It was really humbling to have options," Spagnuolo reflects. "I was blessed to have the phone ring. It doesn't always happen like that."

"But you know me," Spags says. "We'll be back there. I'll be back down the Shore this summer. Philadelphia will always be a part of us. I can never replace the 8 years. The emotional ties. The feelings I have for the city and the team. I look forward to continuing the relationships. In the future, who knows?"