What’s the secret behind Steve Spagnuolo’s defense? We asked 11 Chiefs to find out
Joshua Uche was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs just two weeks ago, but he’s already learned this about Steve Spagnuolo:
The Chiefs defensive coordinator demands a lot from his big guys.
Uche said he saw something quickly once diving into the playbook: The Chiefs’ nose guards have to learn coverage responsibilities. Three-hundred-pounders can’t just get by stuffing the run or rushing the passer.
They might have to chase down a receiver as well.
“I haven’t been a part of anything that requires guys with that size to understand the concepts of coverage,” Uche told The Star. “So that’s one eye-opening thing is to see a guy like (Derrick) Nnadi or Chris (Jones) dropping into coverage.”
It’s just one element of the Chiefs’ defensive operation. And this season — again — is showing how effective Spags’ methods can be.
Through 10 weeks, the Chiefs defense ranks fourth in the all-encompassing DVOA metric. KC is top 10 against both the pass and run, and for a second straight season, the team’s Super Bowl hopes hinge as much on a stifling defense as it does its Patrick Mahomes-led offense.
So what’s the secret sauce? What is it that the 64-year-old Spagnuolo is doing that’s keeping the Chiefs at the top of the NFL defensively?
Here’s what 11 Chiefs defenders told us when asked what made Spags different from every coach they’ve played for.
Creating chaos
Linebacker Leo Chenal says Spagnuolo’s defense forced him to grow up — and in a hurry.
Every non-defensive lineman on the field must make some checks during plays, with Spagnuolo demanding that his guys be ready to respond to changes before the snap.
“It requires a lot of guys,” Chenal said, “to be accountable.”
Maybe one play it’s a strong-side linebacker motioning to a defensive end, asking him to bump a particular direction. Or another time turning around to a corner, just to communicate what he’s about to do on a play.
The bottom line? Spags’ defense requires more than playbook knowledge.
It also demands each player to be decisive.
“We’ve got checks about everything they do: motion, shifts, you name it. It all goes within the call,” Chiefs safety Bryan Cook said. “So we’ve just got to make sure that we’re on our P’s and Q’s.”
That information overload, Cook says, can be taxing on defensive backs. The third-year player can even admit now that Spagnuolo’s playbook ended up being “a lot more complex than what I thought” when he started his rookie season.
“But if we get it done in how he wants to get it done,” Cook said, “it’s poetry in motion.”
Cornerback Joshua Williams has seen this play out before. He senses when opposing quarterbacks start to get confused, as they’re not expecting a Chiefs cornerback to take the back half of the field as a deep safety, or an outside player to use techniques typically only taught to inside defenders.
“When they see something they haven’t seen,” Williams said, “it throws everything off and messes up their timing.”
Rookie safety Jaden Hicks is already getting some idea of all that’s going to be asked of him.
One unfamiliar duty: Some plays in the Chiefs’ arsenal require him to play middle linebacker while reading the field like teammate Nick Bolton does.
“Yeah, I’ve never done that one before,” Hicks said with a laugh, referencing his college and high school days.
The “anyone-can-do-anything” part also plays into a team culture that defensive tackle Turk Wharton says shouldn’t go overlooked.
Though KC has guys that can be considered superstars on defense — like Jones, one of the favorites this year for NFL Defensive Player of the Year — Spagnuolo doesn’t singularly cater game plans around his top guys.
“Spags makes everybody play together. It’s not gonna be a one-person show,” Wharton said. “The way he makes plays and he calls them, anybody could have that game-changing game or be the player of the game.”
‘Where’s Waldo?’
Ask defensive end Cameron Thomas about Spagnuolo, and his mind goes into the specifics.
And right after that to “Where’s Waldo?”
Thomas — in his first year with the Chiefs after a preseason trade — says the two-word expression is used frequently on weeks when KC’s defense is facing a dominant receiver.
The blueprint for that week is to always have eyes on the opposing team’s best player.
Meaning “Where’s Waldo?” is what Chiefs players must ask themselves before each snap.
“Just emphasizing the little details in the plays,” Thomas said, “and then just making sure we all hone in.”
Thomas, playing for the third defensive coordinator in his NFL career, says this is where Spagnuolo stands out most. He emphasizes the details each week, then repeats them over and over again.
If the opponent is a big screen team, Spagnuolo’s message is to take that aspect away. The team prepares for it in practices on Wednesday and Thursday, then makes sure things are crisp on Friday.
“Each week,” Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie said, “the defense can change.”
And McDuffie says the shifts are often across the board.
The Chiefs could be in a base package — or call one of their bread-and-butter plays — and each week there will be a new wrinkle, slipped in specifically to counter that specific opponent.
“So the offense can never really understand what we’re in,” cornerback Nazeeh Johnson said, “because whatever formation they’re in, we’re going to adapt to it, and we’ve got a call for that.”
Johnson said this pregame preparation often gives the Chiefs an advantage. Though KC might have some basic rules for its coverage schemes, Spagnuolo will tinker with that each week based on tendencies he’s seen.
“Ultimately, just trying to confuse the offensive coordinators and the quarterback,” Johnson said, “so he’s never getting comfortable.”
‘May the best man win’
Linebacker Cole Christiansen believes there’s no better example of what Spags is about than a fourth-quarter play in last year’s Super Bowl.
The San Francisco 49ers had a third-and-4 late that could’ve sealed the game. True to his character, Spagnuolo brought the house with an exotic blitz, as McDuffie deflected Brock Purdy’s pass for a critical stop.
“All the chips were on the table, and either you hit and you win, or you miss, and it’s a big play,” Christiansen said. “He’s just willing to roll the dice and send us.”
That aggressiveness, Christiansen, is a big reason that Chiefs defenders play so well under him.
“We’re just gonna bring heat and try to get in your face (with a) ‘may the best man win’ kind of attitude, which I think is just awesome,” Christiansen said. “I think it shows that he believes in us and the type of community and culture we’ve built.”
Spagnuolo backs up the philosophy with how he calls plays.
The Chiefs, for example, have the fourth-highest blitz rate in the league, according to Sports Info Solutions, bringing extra pressure on 32% of pass plays.
“He blitzes a lot — more than I’ve ever seen,” Jones said. “ ... He don’t mind sending corners, nickels, safeties, linebackers.”
That also often requires assertiveness elsewhere.
The Chiefs aren’t afraid to use “press” coverage with their corners, teaching their guys to get their hands on receivers while hoping to disrupt the offense.
And no one else plays it like the Chiefs in this way. Two weeks ago, NFL Next Gen Stats cited that KC had used press coverage with its outside corners on 52% of opponent pass plays — some 10 percentage points ahead of the next-highest defense.
Williams said the way Spags sees things, offenses are built to run on schedule. Quarterbacks and receivers spend hours in the offseason practicing routes “on air” — or with no defenders — to sync themselves to the rhythms of each play call.
So what happens when a receiver is a step off where he’s supposed to be?
“I think that messes up timing,” Williams said. “And I think that’s a huge thing.”
It’s all part of Spagnuolo’s greater vision of what he wants his defense to be.
Christiansen says outsiders might perceive some of Spagnuolo’s tactics as that of a gambler.
Instead, Christiansen sees something else: A coach with conviction in his guys.
“It fills you with confidence. And I think confidence is 99% of success on the football field,” Christiansen said. “If you get confidence, you can do anything.
“And if you know that the boss man has confidence in you, you’re going to play well.”
