The Kansas City Chiefs have a new defensive coordinator. After firing Bob Sutt

Well http://www.chiefslockerroom.com/authentic-spencer-ware-jersey , it’s official.on just two days after the Chiefs AFC Championship loss to the Patriots, Andy Reid began his search for a new coordinator to take over a defense that was very much in need of some change. Under Bob Sutton’s guidance, the Chiefs defense finished the 2018 season ranked at a lowly 31st in yards per game and passing yards per game, 27th in rushing yards per game, 24th in points allowed per game and 26th in Football Outsiders’ Defensive DVOA. Enter Steve Spagnuolo.Spagnuolo comes into this new role with the Chiefs having stepped away from the game in 2018. He was let go by the New York Giants in 2017 after being been bumped up from defensive coordinator to interim head coach in the wake of Ben McAdoo’s termination in Week 13. Spagnuolo had led the team to only a 1-3 finish.Despite that bitter end in New York, though, Spagnuolo felt confident that he would return to the NFL in 2019. “I’m going to coach again,” Spagnuolo said in a report following the Giants’ decision. “I’m passionate about it. I love it too much. That’s the biggest fear as a coach if you’re not looking at a season this year, is can you handle not doing it? But if that’s what happens, that’s what I’ll have to do and Maria and I will find a way to make it work and hopefully get back on the trail a year from now.”And Spagnuolo was right. He would be returning in 2019—this time back with Andy Reid and for the first time with the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are five things you need to know about Steve Spagnuolo, also known as, “Spags.”1. He has long experience in multiple defensive areasSteve Spagnuolo Career TrajectoryFrom graduate assistant, to NFL intern, to coaching at various colleges and even with NFL Europe franchises — which served as a sort of NFL minor league before ending in 2007 — Spagnuolo had exposure to a lot of different college/NFL coaches early on in his career. However, it was his time in Philadelphia working under Jim Johnson that Spagnuolo credits most with providing him the foundation for his creative defensive schemes and aggressive blitzing philosophy.“It began mostly with Jim Johnson back in Philadelphia,” Spagnuolo said in 2012 interview. “We were doing a little bit in NFL Europe when I was coaching the team in Frankfurt, Germany. It really expanded and all the things that Jim was creative with. That’s kind of where it began. It was that foundation in Philly for eight years. Jim was terrific with it God rest his soul. He had done it a long time.”2. He has strong ties to head coach Andy ReidIf there’s one thing we know about Andy Reid, it’s that he really values his coaching relationships and likes to keep those he trusts and respects close to him if possible — and Spagnuolo fits that bill. After almost 20 years working mostly in the collegiate world, Spagnuolo landed his first NFL gig in 1999 with the Philadelphia Eagles — the same year that Andy Reid took over as the team’s head coach. During his eight seasons working under Reid, Spagnuolo worked as an assistant with the defense in various capacities and was a crucial part of helping Reid lead the Eagles to five straight double-digit win seasons between 2000 and 2004. However, in all five of those seasons, the Eagles’ season ended in either a divisional-round loss, conference championship loss or, eventually Womens Carlos Hyde Jersey , a Super Bowl loss in 2004. 3. He’s primarily used a 4-3 base defense As our own Craig Stout pointed out in his article, “The 4-3 Under: How the Chiefs’ current personnel fits,” the 4-3 variant that Spagnuolo uses, called the 4-3 Under, is similar to that utilized by his mentor — and former Andy Reid defensive coordinator — Jim Johnson. The 4-3 Under front shares quite a few similarities to that of the Chiefs 3-4 defense, which should make this coaching transition easier.The 4-3 base will be a change schematically for the Chiefs, who had been operating under the 3-4 scheme used by former defensive coordinator Bob Sutton and will likely have an impact on the Chiefs’ 2019 draft picks, as well as their approach to utilizing the current talent they already have. While we’re here, take a look at this breakdown in which Spagnuolo explains how to play zone defense and when to use Cover 2, Cover 3 or Cover 4.4. His past defensive rankings are a bit...inconsistentSteve Spagnuolo as Defensive CoordinatorAs you can see, 2015, 2012 and 2017 weren’t Spagnulo’s most shining years in his defensive coordinator career. However, in his best seasons as a defensive coordinator — all three with the New York Giants in 2007, 2008, 2016 — he had some remarkable numbers and even won a Super Bowl (against the undefeated 2007 Patriots—hi, Chiefs fans). During those seasons, here’s the talent he had to work with: In Spagnuolo’s worst seasons, his numbers don’t look much better than those of the Chiefs’ defense under Bob Sutton, which could be an area of concern for Chiefs fans going into 2019. So, which Spags defense will the Chiefs get? The one that ranked fifth in points allowed in 2008 or the ones that ranked 30th and 31st in points allowed in 2012 (Saints) and 2015 (Giants)?5. He can execute a solid plan when it mattersDespite his inconsistent defensive rankings throughout his career, one of Spagnuolo’s most notable achievements was the role he played in the Giants’ 17-14 Super Bowl XLII upset victory over the New England Patriots. Serving as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, Spagnuolo put together an aggressive game plan that allowed New York to shut down what was, at the time, the highest-scoring and most dangerous offense in league history in the undefeated Patriots. In that game Demarcus Robinson Jersey , Tom Brady completed just 29 of 48 attempts, was sacked five times by four different Giants defenders and finished with a quarterback rating of 55.4 percent. Additionally, New England only converted on 7 of 14 third downs and went 0 for 2 on fourth downs.Here are the highlights from the legendary upset: Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks, rookies, Travis Kelce and a bunch of other tight ends began training camp on Wednesday." Training Camp NotebookChiefs training camp notebook: Travis Kelce, Juan Thornhill look to be 100 percentNew,51commentsKansas City Chiefs quarterbacks, rookies, Travis Kelce and a bunch of other tight ends began training camp on Wednesday.CDTThe Kansas City Chiefs opened up training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri on Wednesday with quarterbacks, rookies and injured players. With only 40-something players in camp, it was all eyes on a couple of key players returning from injury — tight end Travis Kelce (ankle), rookie safety Juan Thornhill (calf) and offensive lineman Cam Erving (shoulder). All three participated fully in Chiefs practice.“It was great to get some of these guys that had been injured last year an opportunity to get out... to get them out and get work in,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after practice. “All and all, a good day.”Reid specifically said that Kelce did a “nice job.”Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images“We’re easing him back in,” Reid said. “I thought he moved around well — I didn’t see anything lingering from his surgery. [He] caught a few balls.”“I’m 100,” Kelce himself added. “I’m 100 percent flying out there, having some fun. Didn’t have any issues today. There’s one thing about football — there’s nothing you can do to get ready for what you’re about to encounter out there on that field.”Kelce said that his left ankle had bothered him over the course of the last “two or three years.” It’s worth noting that over those three seasons, Kelce compiled 22 regular-season touchdowns and nearly 3,500 combined yards.“I wouldn’t say it bothered me to the point where it hindered my game. It was just something that was nagging — really Monday and Tuesday was where it got me the most — and sometimes, here and there in practice I’d roll my ankle just because of how loose the joint was. Other than that, though, just playing through it. There’s a lot of guys that probably had a lot worse going on, especially on the (Chiefs) squad.” Kelce said the “cleanup” procedure stabilized his left ankle joint to make him more comfortable while playing. Similarly to Kelce http://www.chiefslockerroom.com/authentic-mitch-morse-jersey , Thornhill was thrilled to be back after missing Chiefs’ mandatory minicamp. Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images“It felt great, honestly,” Thornhill said, “especially having a couple weeks off not playing football and being able to get back out there, get your legs working again and get yourself moving is always a great feeling to get back on the field.”A reporter later asked Thornhill if he was nervous with the first professional training camp of his career.“Listen— I ain’t ever nervous. I’m ready to go at all times. I’m going to get in here — I might have to throw up with a couple of them,” he laughed, “but I’ll definitely have to get my feet wet sooner or later because we got a game in two weeks. I’m not nervous; I’m just ready to go out there and play football.”It is one thing for the trio of Kelce, Erving and Thornhill to be practicing fully now, but the key day to watch will be the Chiefs’ first full day of padded work next week. As expected, both rookie linebacker Darius Harris and rookie defensive end Tim Ward watched practice from the sideline.ObservationsThe temperature stayed in the mid-70s throughout the morning practice that began at 8:40 a.m. Arrowhead Time. The heat is mild for St. Joe at this time of year. For the players, media and fans’ sake, let’s hope it stays that way.Three camp battles of note have already begun: second-string tight end, second-string center and third-string quarterback.There are eight tight ends on the roster, and the TE2 position is so wide open that every tight end except Neal Sterling (UPDATE: he’s been released) is already in camp. I asked Andy Reid about the unique situation at that spot: “This is probably the deepest we’ve been at that spot since I’ve been here (2013) for this camp (Wednesday to Friday). Again, they’ve got to compete and sort it out. They’ve got someone with [Travis Kelce], who has been there, and they could talk to him and see how it’s done. [Kelce] is good with sharing that stuff, along, obviously, with Tom Melvin coaching. We’ve got to come out with some tight ends out of this. And they know they have opportunities.” Based on previous comments from Reid, Deon Yelder probably leads the pack, but it is anybody’s job to take home over the next month or so.If Austin Reiter is the starting center, which we expect, it looks like rookie Nick Allegretti and Jimmy Murray are vying for the backup center role. I like Allegretti for the job Womens Xavier Williams Jersey , as the Chiefs said they selected him mostly for the talent he showed at the center position.Reid confirmed that the QB3 spot is a battle between Chase Litton and Kyle Shurmur, who were already splitting reps on Wednesday. No clear-cut win on the day for either quarterback.The starting offensive line isn’t here yet, so I thought it was interesting to see Cam Erving mixing in at tackle. We’ve long thought that Erving would get an opportunity to win the left guard job from Andrew Wylie, but perhaps the Chiefs profile him more so as a swing tackle. Erving has the ability to play every position on the line, so it’s important to remember here that one day is just that: one day. We could very well see him playing elsewhere Thursday and into the weekend.Rookie punter Jack Fox is the only specialist in camp at the moment. He will get an opportunity to try to unseat 14-year incumbent Dustin Colquitt.The defense had two interceptions on Wednesday, both in seven-on-seven work. Defensive back Herb Miller intercepted Chad Henne off of a bobbled ball by running back Marcus Marshall. Linebacker Raymond Davidson had an easy pick off of Patrick Mahomes by way of a miscommunication with Deon Yelder.The standouts on offense Wednesday were Mecole Hardman, who seems to be coming along when it comes to timing with Mahomes, John Lovett, who was catching the ball everywhere and Cody Thompson, who had an outstanding catch you may watch below.Tweets of noteQuote(s) of the dayTravis Kelce when asked about what’s different this year in Patrick Mahomes: “I think he’s in tip-top shape... He’s a heavy dude, so he’s naturally going to be a big guy in the pocket, but he’s looking a little leaner in terms of his confidence. He had a lot of confidence last year, but this one is confidence in a direction. Last year, it was just confidence to say, ‘Hey, I’ll figure it out.’ Now he has a lot of things figured out and it’s more so confidence with direction and taking this team to a Super Bowl.”Andy Reid, when friend-of-the-site Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest brought up their exchange (as can be seen above or by clicking here) from Tuesday: “You got a lot of pub for that, by the way.”Juan Thornhill on going up against Patrick Mahomes’ no-look passes: “I mean, it’s hard to explain, honestly. You think you going to make a play and the ball go over there, and you went this way. I’m just like, ‘You got me again.’ That’s all I can say.”What’s next?The quarterbacks and rookies will practice for two more days — Thursday morning and Friday morning — before being joined by the veterans for their first full-team practice on Saturday afternoon.