LAS VEGAS — The T-shirts were the brainchild of safety Justin Reid and the inspiration for the shirt says he does not own a single one of them.
“I’m way too humble,’’ Steve Spagnuolo said Monday night at Allegiant Stadium during “Opening Night” in advance of Super Bowl LVIII.
Yes, indeed, Spagnuolo is a humble individual. Anyone who has ever spent time around him will acknowledge he gets a bit itchy when the conversation centers on him and his accomplishments — of which there are many.
Yet there is no escaping what the Chiefs think of their defensive coordinator, which is why Reid after a 17-10 upset victory over the Ravens in the AFC Championship game in Baltimore donned a black shirt emblazoned with “In Spags We Trust.’’ It did not take long for the shirts to get circulated and before long several defensive players were wearing them.
“I was trying to burn ’em all,’’ Spagnuolo said, only half-kidding. “I just … it blew me away, great compliment. I love those guys for that. But I’d much rather have it be under the rug somewhere.’’
Too late for that.
Finding anyone to say a negative word to say about Spagnulo is an endeavor destined to end in failure.
Those who played for him with the Giants way back when, in 2007 in his first season as an NFL defensive coordinator sing his praises to this day.
With the Chiefs, the 64-year-old Spagnuolo can do no wrong.
With a victory on Sunday against the 49ers, Spagnuolo will gain his third Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs.
Add in the one he earned with the Giants for his defensive masterpiece, stunning the previously unbeaten Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, Spagnuolo will set a new standard for an NFL offensive or defensive coordinator with Super Bowl triumph No. 4.
“Yeah, nothing right now,’’ Spagnulo said, when asked what that achievement would mean to him. “All we’re trying to do is win this game. I’m not even thinking about that, I’m thinking about these guys we have. I would really like to see our players who haven’t had a chance to win one of these win it, that’s what I’m most excited for.’’
In the recent past, the Chiefs could not have escaped an AFC Championship game scoring only 17 points.
They did so because Spagnuolo’s guys bottled up Lamar Jackson in the first half and shut the Ravens out in the second half.
In beating the Dolphins, Bills and Ravens during this postseason run, the Chiefs have allowed 13.6 points per game and given up a total of seven points in the second halves of the three games.
That is not supposed to happen when the opposing quarterbacks are Tua Tagovailoa and especially Josh Allen and Jackson.
The Chiefs needed Spagnulo more than ever in 2023, as a dearth of appetizing wide receiver options limited Patrick Mahomes’ brilliance and the offense averaged a pedestrian 21.8 points a game.
Spagnuolo’s defense allowed just 17.3 points a game during the regular season — only the Ravens gave up fewer points.
The Chiefs on defense were second-best in the league in yards allowed per game (289.8) and first in sacks per pass attempt (10.25 percent).
It is not hyperbole to suggest none of this might have happened for Spagnuolo had he not been able to engender trust with the Giants at a time when that trust was not yet earned.
He was not exactly a smash hit at the start with the Giants. In his first two games his defense gave up 45 points to the Cowboys and 35 to the Packers and headed into a Week 3 game in Washington with the Giants at 0-2 and their defense punctured for 80 points.
“You think about it, the first year, our first 2 ¹/₂ games we literally thought he was probably the dumbest person on earth,’’ Justin Tuck told The Post not long ago. “It wasn’t that we thought that, it was just how we played and how the outcome dictated how we felt about him. We didn’t feel confident. I can’t remember if we blamed him at all for that. I’m pretty sure we did not blame him for that. There wasn’t a lot of confidence in Spags, there wasn’t a lot of confidence in all of us those first two and a half games.’’
Those Giants did not create T-shirts for Spagnuolo.
This group of Chiefs did.
“The respect and the love is mutual, I’ll tell you that,’’ Spagnuolo said. “Because of what they’ve done. When we got to the first playoff game, I told the guys — because you guys know, I’m a solid Christian and I’m a prayerful guy. And I prayed in the morning, ‘Just give me another week with these guys, just to work with them again.’ And then I felt I didn’t pray strong enough because I wanted another week, and another week after that.’’
The Chiefs got all the weeks.
In Spags they trust.
