[T-post Tom]

The Kansas City Chiefs will be hiring as Steve Spagnuolo as their new defensive coordinator, according to a report from Mike Garafolo of NFL Media. Spagnuolo will be replacing Bob Sutton, who was fired earlier this week after six seasons.

The news was also reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN, who says Spagnuolo was Chiefs head coach Andy Reid's first choice.

"Steve Spagnuolo was the defensive coach that Andy Reid wanted to hire after firing Bob Sutton," Schefter tweeted. "This is now done and official, and was in the works since the two men spoke Wednesday."

Spagnuolo, 59, began his career in 1981 as a graduate assistant at UMass, then took his first NFL job as an intern with the Redskins in 1983. For most of the 1980s and 1990s, Spagnuolo had stints in college as a defensive coach, including schools such as Connecticut, Rutgers, Maine, and Bowling Green, and also spent time with the Frankfurt Galaxy and Barcelona Dragons of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe.

Spagnuolo went on to join the defensive staff with the Eagles under Reid in 1999, serving as a defensive assistant (1999-2000), defensive backs coach (2001-2003) and linebackers coach (2004-2006) under defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. His first defensive coordinator opportunity came with the New York Giants under Tom Coughlin in 2007, during which he made a splash when his defense shut down the previously undefeated New England Patriots during a 17-14 win in Super Bowl XLII. His first head coaching opportunity came with the St. Louis Rams in 2009, which ended with his firing following the 2011 season after posting a 10-38 overall record.

Since then, Spagnuolo has spent time with the Baltimore Ravens as a senior defensive assistant (2013) and a secondary coach (2014), then returned to the Giants as the defensive coordinator from 2015 to 2017 and served as the interim head coach towards the end of the 2017 season after the firing of coach Ben McAdoo. Spagnuolo wasn't retained by the Giants after they hired Pat Shurmur as head coach in early 2018 and addressed his coaching future last February, knowing he might have to wait another season before getting another opportunity.

“It may not be this year, and that’s OK,” Spagnuolo said, per Newsday. “Sometimes when that happens it gives you a chance to sit back and see the big picture. I think that’s always good. When you’re in the middle of it all the time and you put the blinders on and you go, you miss some things. I don’t know what it will feel like because I’ve never not been [coaching] in the middle of a season, but if that’s the way it happens that’s the way it is. I’ll spend some more time with [my wife] Maria, that’ll be a blessing, and then we’ll see what happens next year.”

https://247sports.com/Article/Chiefs-hiring-Steve-Spagnuolo-defensive-coordinator-128265032/