Myers: Spags must be Jets' top guy

[Boynton Beach Jets]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2009/01/02/2009-01-02_steve_spagnuolo_must_be_jets_top_guy-1.html

Steve Spagnuolo must be Jets' top guy

Saturday, January 3rd 2009, 2:44 AM

Sabo/News Steve Spagnuolo meets Saturday with Jets, who face competition for Giant defensive coordinator.

Steve Spagnuolo, who interviews for the Jets' head coaching job Saturday, comes from what might be the most impressive coaching tree in the NFL - the high-profile job of Giants defensive coordinator.

Bill Walsh's coaching tree with the 49ers is legendary. Then Mike Holmgren branched out from Walsh's staff and produced a new generation of head coaches. And, of course, Tom Coughlin was one of many future head coaches to learn under Bill Parcells.

But all those trees may be overshadowed by the former Giants defensive coordinators who excelled in that high pressure position and went on to do great things as head coaches: Parcells, Bill Belichick and John Fox.

Now that Bill Cowher has removed himself from the Jets derby, Spagnuolo is the best fit for the Jets. It's always hard to predict how a first-time head coach will do, but Spagnuolo gives every indication he will be able to make a seamless transition. He's had success in the biggest market in the country.

Although the Jets have decided to no longer consider Mike Shanahan, they are better off with Spagnuolo anyway. Shanahan did win two Super Bowls, but that was a lifetime ago. In the last 10 years, he is 1-4 in the playoffs. The Broncos collapsed worse than the Jets this season. Shanahan is straight from the recycling bin after he was fired Tuesday. Spagnuolo is red-hot. He comes with no guarantees, of course, but then Shanahan hasn't done anything since John Elway retired.

And you can't forget that coaching tree.

Parcells was promoted from Giants defensive coordinator to head coach in 1983 and won two Super Bowls in eight years and then made it to another Super Bowl with New England.

Belichick was Parcells' defensive coordinator on two Super Bowl winners, and then after making the playoffs just once in five years as the Browns' head coach, he is 3-1 in Super Bowls in nine years as the Patriots' coach.

Then there's Fox, the defensive coordinator for the Giants team that went to the Super Bowl in 2000 after shutting out the Vikings in the NFC title game. He became the Panthers head coach and had Carolina in the Super Bowl in his second season, where it lost to Belichick. If Jim Fassel had not saved his job with the Super Bowl run in 2000, the Giants were prepared to fire him and promote Fox.

Is Spagnuolo the next Giants defensive coordinator who will go on and become a star? He has emerged as the favorite to get the Jets' job, but because he is the hottest assistant in the league, the Jets face competition for him from the Broncos, Lions and Browns. The Jets have to sell themselves to him today as much as he has to sell himself to them.

The Giants would love to keep Spagnuolo, but it's not realistic. Coughlin has three years remaining on his contract and is not leaving anytime soon. It would be uncomfortable and unfair to Coughlin and Spagnuolo to put him in the on-deck circle as the coach-in-waiting. That may work in Indy, but not in this market.

Besides, Spagnuolo is not a kid. He just turned 49, and his time is now. The Jets have the little brother complex when it comes to the Giants, but Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum should not have any misgivings about hiring a coach from across the street. The Jets did pretty well when they got Parcells. Even though Parcells was in New England when the Jets hired him, he will always be most closely associated with the Giants.

Here's all the Jets need to know: In last year's Super Bowl, Spagnuolo devised the defense that held the Patriots, the highest-scoring team in NFL history, to just 14 points. The Giants sacked Tom Brady five times. The Jets have to play the Patriots twice a year. You think the Jets defensive players would have some confidence that Spagnuolo and whoever he hires to run the defense might come up with a plan to control New England?

In Spagnuolo's first season with the Giants in 2007, the defense gave up 80 points in the first two games. In the four playoff games against the Bucs, Cowboys, Packers and Patriots at the end of the year, it gave up 65 points. Clearly, he is a coach who knows how to make adjustments.

"His players play hard for him and you don't hear his players complaining," said former Giants linebacker Carl Banks, who is around the team a lot with his several media jobs. "He preaches accountability. He is a driven guy, a high-energy guy. Players love playing for him. He has a good feel for the game. He has good instincts."

Spagnuolo was on Andy Reid's staff in Philadelphia from 1999-2006. He picked up many of his defensive philosophies from Eagles coordinator Jimmy Johnson, one of the most aggressive coaches in the league. He now has two years working for Coughlin. That is pretty good training.

"You don't have to go to the library to find a book about head coaches when you worked for those two guys," Banks said.

After the Super Bowl last year, Spagnuolo spent a couple of days interviewing with Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. Although the Redskins like to say he was never offered the job, the job was Spagnuolo's if he wanted it.

However, Snyder already had most of the coaching staff in place. Coaches must be allowed to hire their own assistants. The Giants made it easy for Spagnuolo to turn down the Skins by bumping his salary to $2 million per year.

The Jets have a lot to offer Spagnuolo - Johnson's money, a talent base that was good enough to get to 8-3 at Thanksgiving, the freedom to select his staff and an opportunity to remain in New Jersey.

And then the Jets can hope he doesn't fall far from the coaching tree.