Steve Spagnuolo Is Perfect Hire to Get Giants Defense Back to Old Glory

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin turned to a familiar face to help restore the faded glory of the NFL's battered 29th-ranked defensive unit.

That would be Steve Spagnuolo, whom the New York Giants announced is the team’s new defensive coordinator, replacing Perry Fewell.

“We spoke to a lot of very good candidates,” Coughlin said in a statement released by the team.

“The energy, enthusiasm and strong personality that we saw before in Steve Spagnuolo, all of that was very evident again. His desire to be a Giant again was very, very obvious.”

Spagnuolo, who was chosen ahead of Dennis Allen, Pepper Johnson and Raheem Morris, is hoping to reproduce the success he had in his first tour of duty with the Giants, which ran from 2007 to 2008.

Year	Overall	Run	Pass	Scoring
2006 (pre-Spagnuolo)	25th (341.3 yds/g)	15th (18.5 yds/g)	26th (222.8 yds/g)	24th (22.6 pts/g)
2007 (Spagnuolo)	7th (301.7 yds/g)	6th (92.6 yds/g)	12th (209.2 yds/g)	14th (20.8 pts/g)
2008 (Spagnuolo)	6th (291.1 yds/g)	6th (93.9 yds/g)	8th (197.2 yds/g)	6th (18.6 pts/g)

Let’s look at why this is a solid hire by the Giants.

Personnel Friendly

Spagnuolo, who spent many seasons in Philadelphia learning from the late Jim Johnson, put a heavy focus on tailoring his defensive system to his personnel. 

For example, Spagnuolo resurrected the career of cornerback Corey Webster. Webster was a physical corner in his prime who excelled in press coverage in college but who was taken out of his element under Tim Lewis, Spagnuolo’s predecessor.

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

Once Spagnuolo got his hands on Webster, he blossomed into a solid cornerback, actually just missing the Pro Bowl in 2008, which was his best season as a pro.

Spagnuolo’s system, a straightforward system that put a focus on being aggressive and in getting after the passer, helped defensive ends Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck earn Pro Bowl berths in 2007 and 2008, respectively.  

An even bigger testament to Spagnuolo’s ability to adjust his system to his personnel came in 2008 when the Giants defense improved in numerous categories from the previous season. This was despite losing defensive end Michael Strahan to retirement and not having Umenyiora, who missed that season due to a knee injury.

An Ability to Adjust

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about Fewell’s defense was his insistence on sticking with his game plan, even as the opponent found ways to tweak things, thus rendering all or parts of the defensive plan Fewell set up useless.

Just look at the results from the first half versus the second half under Fewell in 2014 and from the two years under Spagnuolo in 2007 and 2008: 

Year	1st Half	Second Half
2014 (Fewell)	Giants 211, Opp. 169	Opp. 230, Giants 170
2008	Giants 229, Opp. 160	Giants 189, Opp. 134
2007	Giants 184, Opp. 182	Giants 189, Opp. 169

While Fewell’s 2014 unit was eaten alive by the injury bug, that was only part of the problem. His passive approach during the game regarding his strategies combined with being forced to ask players to take on roles for which they weren’t suited, all played a part in the defense’s downfall.

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

A Players' Coach

At the end of the season as the Gants were cleaning out their lockers, several defensive players spoke in support of Fewell, including cornerback Prince Amukamara and linebacker Jon Beason.

Safety Antrel Rolle, in a radio interview with SiriusXM earlier in the month (h/t Tom Rock of Newsday), said "I'd ride or die with Coach Perry Fewell all day."  

It would be surprising if the defensive players aren’t soon singing the same tune about Spagnuolo. After all, during his first stint with the Giants he was a big believer in fostering that family atmosphere.

In fact, according to an old article by Paul Schwartz of the New York Post written shortly after Spagnuolo was preparing to leave the Giants for his first head coaching stint, the defensive coordinator’s wife, Maria, used to send in homemade baked goods with her husband to offer the players during their Friday meetings.

One of Spagnuolo’s challenges with the Giants will be putting together a defense that can better handle the read-option offense, run by the Eagles and to an extent by Washington.

Coughlin seemed to be optimistic that Spagnuolo grew as a NFL coach while working with other teams. His research might come in handy as far as dealing with some of the popular offensive systems making their way into the NFL landscape.

“His defense has changed since he was last here,” Coughlin said.

“He worked in Baltimore with John Harbaugh and Dean Pees, and they are outstanding defensive coaches. He has studied defenses. Steve visited colleges and talked to college coaches, including Urban Meyer (coach of national champion Ohio State) to learn how to defend the spread offenses that have become so popular.”

Time will tell, of course, if Spagnuolo can catch lightning in a bottle again. The Giants defense still has many holes that need to be filled. But with a new, yet familiar voice running the show, things are already looking up.

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.