SmashMouth

Six months into his job as New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo is still getting to know New Orleans and the club's passionate fan base.


New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo works with the defense during practice between the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots on the practice fields of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
But New Orleanians already know him well.

Spagnuolo's hopes of maintaining a low profile in his new job and town were dashed almost immediately after he set foot in the Crescent City.

"I'm a very humble guy," Spagnuolo said. "I don't consider myself one of those guys that's very recognizable, but apparently I am down there (in New Orleans). Even walking down the street I get the 'Who Dat!' all the time. It's nice."

The fanatical support of Saints fans is all part of the learning process for Spagnuolo, a coaching lifer whose career has taken him from humble beginnings at the University of Massachusetts to a pair of stints in Europe and eventually to a head coaching opportunity with the St. Louis Rams. Along the way, he earned a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants in 2008.

Spagnuolo's bio information has been well known to most Saints fans since he took the job in February. But they're just getting to know the man himself.

Here are a few things you probably didn't know about him:

He was a star hockey center, second baseman and option quarterback at Grafton (Mass.) High School.

His last name rhymes with Lolo not Nola.

His Mount Rushmore of Boston sports icons - Larry Bird; Bobby Orr; Bill Russell; and Carl Yastrzemski -- does not include a single football player.

He and wife Maria were married at the Vatican in Rome in a small, quiet ceremony on July 9, 2005.

And 32 years ago, three of his best friends died in a car crash in his hometown of Grafton, Mass., on a trip he was scheduled to make but miraculously turned down at the last minute.

The incident profoundly impacted him, leading him to a life of faith and forging his positive coaching philosophy.

Indeed, Spags' coaching style is drastically different than that of his predecessor, the volatile Gregg Williams. Where Williams was a salty drill sergeant, Spags is more professorial.

On Wednesday, as he instructed his linebackers during a joint workout with the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, his voice was barely audible from 20 feet away.

"There's been a lot of coaches in this league who have been very successful using varying styles," Saints linebacker Scott Shanle said. "Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy never used a curse word, but they have ways of getting their message across. As long as a coach is who they are and is not a fake or a fraud, every player will respect him."

But don't mistake Spags' reserved approach for a lack of fire. Players say he's as intense and passionate about playing defense as any coach they've had.

"He takes what he does very seriously," said linebacker Chris Chamberlain, who played for Spags for three seasons in St. Louis. "In meetings, when he starts talking about games you can tell he's very passionate and intense. You can tell he's not a softy."

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