SPAGNUOLO

Giants interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo took a timeout as the season winds down toto have some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby. Q: Would you want the Giants’ head-coaching job permanently? A: Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. And lookit, when I say that, I put it all in God’s hands. Wherever He had me after this, I’m full-bore. And if it happens to be as the head football coach of the New York Giants, then I’ll be a happy man. If that is not the case, then whatever it is I’ll be happy h doing that, too. Q: What would you say drives you? A: A Right now what drives me? Is tto get the team and/or players that I coach ... I would like all the players playe that I coach, to have the same feeling I had when I won the Super Bowl in [the] 2007 [season]. That’s what drives me. I was fortunate enough to experience it. I’d like other people to experience it, especially guys I care for (laugh). Q: How would you describe that feeling to them? A: Well ... I did get married, but I’ve never had children. So (chuckle) the only thing that even beats the feeling of winning a Super Bowl was the day I married Maria. More than anything, the feeling of accomplishment after all the time that’s put in ... that’s a long stretch ... and you’re worn down, and you’vey put every ounce of energy into achieving that ultimate goal. Just to hold that trophy, and put on that ring, and you feel like it was all worth it. Just a tremendous sense of accomplishment. And more than anything, a tremendousmendous sense of accomplishment with other people. because you get to share it with other people who went through the same thing. Q: Where was Maria during those 15 minutes after the game when you couldn’t find her? A: Well, she was up in the stands and she was trying to make her way down and for whatever reason, we never even talked about, “If we win, where do you go?” So everybody’s scrambling. She couldn’t get over the fence or something, and eventually Coach [Tom] Coughlin’s son found her and helped her over the railing and then somehow I found her. But that moment of we win the game and it’s all done [looks down at desk and pauses for 15 seconds as tears well in his eyes] ... that was pretty special. Just seeing hher. Because you go through it with family and people, and Maria and I, we had gone through that whole year. It’s hard. Q: Do you remember what she said to you or what you said to her? A: I don’t. I remember I hugged her for a long time. Q: Why do you think you just got so emotional just now? A: It’s been 10 years ... mainly because it’s her, and how much she means. And she’s been with me through everything. And I love her. She’s pretty important. Q: What is your definition of mental toughness? A: Somebody that’s able to, no matter what the circumstances are, continue to press on forward to what you’re trying to do in a football game, which is win. You don’t let any of the outside look distractions affect that, you’re so tuned in — think of Mike Singletary, with those laser eyes. He didn’t let anything bother him, he just played the game the way it was supposed to be played, totally focused on doing his job and winning the football game. Q: Why is this such a plum job? A: It begins with leadership, and at the top here with the [co-owners Steve] Tisch and the Mara family. I don’t think it gets any better than that ... the way they treat their people ... the way they embrace everybody in a family way I think is really, really important. I’m not sure that that goes on everywhere. ... They care about people, not just about the business of football, and I think those things resonate. Q: What is the biggest lesson you learned from your Rams head coaching stint from 2009-11? A: That you can’t do it all on your own. You need quality people around you, and people that are pulling in the same direction. You got to empower other people. Q: Describe your motivational style. A: I hope by example. I believe that motivation sometimes is tied into work ethic. When people see other people work or work together, I think that motivates people to accomplish things bigger and better or more than just themselves. Q: What kind of future does rookie QB Davis Webb have? A: If the indications of how he works, how he prepares, the time he puts in have any carryover to how he performs on the field, then he’ll be great. Q: You hired Josh McDaniels as your offensive coordinator in 2011 when you coached the Rams. A: Very intelligent offensive football coach. Because of his experiences of having coached on defense, understood the whole picture of the game of football. Bill [Belichick] did that with a lot of those guys up there. He puts ’em on one side of the ball knowing that eventually he’s gonna put ’em on the other. And I think Josh sees the game the way you need to see it offensively, and how to attack defenses. Q: Pat Shurmur was your offensive coordinator in 2009. A: I always thought Pat was an excellent teacher. I used to watch him stand in front of the room, and I just thought he had a great way of feeding the information to the players. Q: You rooted for all the Boston teams? A: Oh yeah. My whole life I root for the New England Patriots to win. And they didn’t do a lot of winning when I was growing up. The first time I go to a Super Bowl, (chuckle), they finally get in one, and I’m playing against them in ’04 when I was with the Eagles, and then obviously in ’07 with the Giants. Q: If you could pick the brain of one defensive coach in history, who would it be? A: I am a huge Tom Landry fan. I know he’s legendary for being a head coach for Dallas, but he was the one here with the Giants that put Sam Huff in the middle of the defense, which became legendary and they started talking about a 4-3 defense. ... He was way ahead of his time. Q: If you could pick the brain of one offensive coach in history, who would it be? A: Don Coryell just pops out because of what he did in the pass game way ahead of everybody else. Q: Boyhood idol? A: Bobby Orr. I’ll tell you a quick story. When I’m in Philadelphia coaching for the Eagles, I meet my wife. She learns that Bobby Orr’s an idol of mine — he’s be the one guy that if I saw, I’d go back to being 12 years old (smile). He’s a God to me. She found out he was a member of a course in Jupiter, Fla., so she wrote him a letter. Said, “I’m so-and-so, my husband works for the Eagles,” blah blah blah ... and Bobby Orr called her on the phone. Called her, to say, “I appreciate your letter. Tell your husband anytime he’s in Florida, come down.” Somewhere along the way, he actually called my phone — I mean, this is the kind of guy he is, right? — left a message on the phone, and I saved it for like two years, just so people could hear Bobby Orr’s voice. Q: Did you ever meet him? A: I have not yet. I invited him to come to a Rams game, and he wasn’t able to come out. Some day I will. Q: Did you play hockey? A: I did. I was a late bloomer as a hockey player, I didn’t really start skating til I was like 11 years old. Q: You love this organization, don’t you? A: I do. I do. When I came back in 2015, my goal was to never coach anywhere else. We’ll see what happens.