Per Fanhouse, where Ryan Wilson points out a compelling reason why Steve might be the shiniest toy in the entire NFL toy box right now:
Well, defensive backs Larry Brown and Dexter Jackson did it in previous Super Bowls -- parlayed spectacular performances into big paydays -- and now it looks like Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will reap the benefits of being the only guy on the planet able to slow down the seemingly unstoppable Patriots offense.
Watching the game I felt that it was an audition for Josh McDaniels and Steve Spagnuolo. How rare it is for a team interested in two head coaching candidates to have them square off (Patriots O vs. Giants D) on the biggest stage the NFL has to offer? Can there be doubt over who won that battle? The Giants held the highest scoring team in league's history to just 14 points with unprecedented pressure. I was talking to an amigo of mine earlier this week and he pointed out that, who would have thought, pressuring Tom Brady happened to be the way to slow him down. Duh. The thing that stands out about Spagnuolo is that he actually did so. Many a coach tried to pressure Tom Brady but none have made his offensive line look so utterly outclassed as the Giants did in the Super Bowl. The Times agrees:
If Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder looked at... Super Bowl XLII as a final audition for New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, it's bad news for Jim Fassel, Ron Meeks and Steve Mariucci.
All of which squares with word from yesterday at the Official Site, which suggests that Dan Snyder is impatient to get a head coach, and it just so happens he reached that state of mind shortly after interviewing Spagnuolo:
Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder updated the team's head coaching search on Tuesday, saying that he hopes to have a decision "very soon."
I believe Spagnuolo "We're going back to work [Tuesday] night and hopefully we'll make the right decision in the very near future," Snyder said. "We told everybody we would do a full process and it got delayed into the playoffs.
Reader(s): Steve Spagnuolo? Can you guys get behind that decision? (If so, go vote.) I'd be lying if I said that the performance the Giants put on in the SB didn't impress the hell out of me.
PS: Dan Steinberg has an article on Spagnuolo's wife. My opinion: Maybe we should be interviewing her for head coach?