If you can’t beat him, hire him.
The 49ers were exploring the possibility of filling Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s vacancy. According to multiple reports.
Spagnuolo won two of his four Super Bowl rings at the expense of the 49ers and helped the Chiefs’ defense stifle head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense at the end of the 2019 and 2023 seasons.
Spagnuolo’s contract was set to expire at the end of the season, but the Chiefs moved quickly to extend head coach Andy Reid’s longtime right-hand man.
According to ESPN, the new contract will pay Spagnuolo about $5 million annually.
The 49ers focused on interviewing Dave Merritt, Spagnuolo’s replacement and Chiefs defensive backs coach.
During Spagnuolo’s two years as defensive coordinator at East Rutherford, Merritt held the same position with the Giants.
Ultimately, however, the 49ers are expected to promote passing game specialist Nick Sorensen to defensive coordinator and hire former Chargers head coach and Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley as assistant head coach. It is being
Spagnuolo is the only coach in NFL history to win four Super Bowls as either an offensive or defensive coordinator.
He won his first championship with the Giants in 2007 and won three with the Chiefs, whose players endorsed his genius this season by wearing “In Spags We Trust” T-shirts.
The 49ers fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilkes after a season in which they lost to Spagnuolo’s Chiefs in Super Bowl III.
Reed and Shanahan’s coaching tree is currently the most fruitful in the NFL, and Spagnuolo’s move would have been a wild card.
