Spagnuolo reactions

by Ed Valentine on Jan 18, 2009 8:38 AM EST in News Comment 18 comments

There is, of course, lots of reaction today to the news that former New York Giants' defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is now head coach of the St. Louis Rams.

Plenty of praise from the Giants, including this from head coach Tom Coughlin.

“I’ve very happy for Steve. He did a great job in his two years with the Giants. We’ve been very, very aggressive on defense and we’ve been able to have two very successful years back-to-back. When Steve came in, he was obviously very energetic, very enthusiastic, very thorough, very knowledgeable and he knew exactly what he wanted to do. Steve is a very smart coach and he became a disciple, if you will, of the way I wanted the program to be handled as well as anybody I’ve ever seen in a first-year coach. He came in and assessed what I wanted out of a program and worked with our defensive coaches to get it done. He’s done an outstanding job both on and off the field, and he’s been a real Giant in terms of his contribution. We wish Steve well and we know he’s going to do very well as a head coach in the National Football League.”

From Rams' GM Billy Devaney, who hired him.

"What it usually and what it should come down to is, at the end of the day, whether it’s me or whoever’s in that position, whoever the personnel guy is, they have to be joined at the hip with the head coach and be on the same page philosophically, how to put a team together, the vision for the team," he said. "You know how many hours [are] spent between those two guys. And the relationship that I’ve had with Spags over the years going back to, I wanna say, the late 80’s and we were in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and Charlie Casserly hired Spags as an intern out of Springfield College. You could tell right then the guy, he had special qualities about him and he and I hit it off way back then and we always thought it would be neat if we got in a position to work together and be able to put a team together would be special."

Lots of reports today that the Giants have interest in veteran coach Dom Capers as Spagnuolo's replacement at defensive coordinator. If so, they appear to have lots of competition for Capers' services.
Mike Garafolo reports this morning that Giants' offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride is still a strong candidate for the Oakland Raiders' job. Oh, and so is ex-Giant coach Jim Fassel.

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Comments

Capers

I don’t know how hiring Capers makes sense. He’s a great coach, but as has been discussed here lately our D is built according to Spags scheme. I really think the Giants will promote from within here or at least I hope they do. We know if the players have any say they will want to keep the same scheme because they love playing it.

by potroast on Jan 18, 2009 8:56 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Sure

I think it’s just that Capers and Coughlin have a history. So, the Giants probably feel they need to at least talk to him.

by Ed Valentine on Jan 18, 2009 9:31 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

It’s why I think this is all conjecture by Chris Mortensen that Capers is the “top candidate”.

by potroast on Jan 18, 2009 9:37 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

With all these openings, you'd

think someone would give Fassel a shot as HC.

by blue gonz on Jan 18, 2009 9:46 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

No kidding

Unreal that he hasn’t been given another shot.

by potroast on Jan 18, 2009 9:55 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Andre Woodson

Hey Giants fans… Glad to see Woodson on the roster… As someone who watched Andre Woodson play every home game for four straight years I am telling you this kid has all the tools, can make all the throws and can read defenses and he did this in the SEC… He checked at the line of scrimmage over 60% of the time on his own during his senior year at UK with no help from the booth… He will be a solid back up and a good plan B if there is an injury… The Giants and Coach C do it the right way and that is why I am a fan of this franchise over any other in the NFL…

ShagOnSports - "people should know when they are conquered"

by ShagOnSports on Jan 18, 2009 11:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I've lobbied for that for a while

by squid92 on Jan 18, 2009 2:09 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Capers would be a bad move

Our best defensive players are all along the front 4, so switching to a 3-4 would mean our best players wouldnt be on the field at the same time-I hope they stay within….Capers is a retread, we dont need that, we need another fresh, hungry guy like Spagnuolo was

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Jan 18, 2009 12:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

There is no reason the Giants couldn't move to a 3-4 defense

Kiwanuka played linebacker just last year. The problem with the 3-4 for us is lack of sufficient talent at linebacker to pull it off. Also we would have to get a Jim Burt type guy for nose tackle as I don’t think any of our current lineman are built correctly for the job.

As much trouble as it would be to convert, I think it would pay great dividends. With our great defensive ends we could develop a kind of hybrid 3-4 that wold suit our aggressive defensive nature.

by giant fan since 57 on Jan 19, 2009 5:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Off the wall thought...

Initially, I was all for capers. I know Bren and it seems like others think this is a little re-tread and while the guy has run a 3-4 defense, I dont think they would hire anyone that did not have some flexibility given the Giants talent concentration in the front 4. Capers has run all sorts of defense and has the ability to manage a 4-3 according to several articles I read.

But my off the wall thought was promoting a young guy within or grabbing one of the eagles young guns and pairing them with Pierce to run the DEF. Pierce knows the DEF Spags ran as well as anyone and I think it might be an interesting way to transition to coaching status 2-3 yrs down the road. Everyone may hate this idea, but I like the idea of having this guy around and lead the DEF, while giving some young kids more time on the field since I think his talent level cant keep up with the mental aspect of the game he still has.

He is motivated, young, hungry, knows the talent level, smart and probably aware of his deteriorating skills. I think he can still be on the field; I just don’t think he is an every down player next year and definitely not the following year.

by losangelesmets on Jan 18, 2009 3:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Are you suggesting Pierce should be a player/coach?

that still wouldnt address the DC position…..the point I was arguing yesterday about losing Spags not being a bid deal, was that the team has enough talent to make anyone look good in that role, the problem being, the majority of that talent is in the defensive line-so to run a 3-4 would be counter intuitive to our personnel.

Linebacker is the thinnest position in the D, even the secondary, which has traditionally been mediocre at best, is better than the LB core….I just dont see a 3-4 working, if we werent in contention and had a few years to integrate it, sure go ahead, but we dont

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Jan 18, 2009 8:24 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If we continue to plug along without some new wrinkles

our enemies are going to eat us up because they have now had two years to figure out the best way to attack our weak linebackers. We can’t be afraid to change just because we are contenders. The status quo doesn’t succeed in the NFL.

I happen to like the 3-4 because I think it is more difficult to read before the snap and easier to blitz with. Sure, it is a pain to revamp something that is already working but the NFL rewards those who can do it successfuly and punishes those who don’t try.

by giant fan since 57 on Jan 19, 2009 5:30 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

well Capers went to Green Bay

So i think thats out the window….our defensive shortcomings arent b/c of the system, its b/c of our weak LB core-so I dont worry about being “figured out” I worry about the lack of quality in the LB core; hopefully they can sign someone like Suggs (if hes not franchised)

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on Jan 19, 2009 9:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs