Spags soaks up possibly his last Big Blue hurrah
Steve Spagnuolo apologized for arriving a little late to his postgame press conference Sunday. As he explained: “It takes a long time to hug 80 some odd people — coaches and players — but it really felt good.”
No one complained. Spagnuolo deserved the extended celebration of the Giants’ 18-10 win over the Redskins in the regular-season finale for both teams. It made Spagnuolo 1-3 as the Giants interim head coach, a job he inherited after Ben McAdoo was fired in early December.
General manager Dave Gettleman said Spagnuolo will be considered among the candidates for the Giants head coaching vacancy, but it would be a surprise if he got the job, considering he was part of this 3-13 disaster as the team’s defensive coordinator.
That probably is why Spagnuolo spent so much time in the locker room, thanking everyone for a game that, he said, “felt like Giants football.” It was a long time coming.
“Congratulate all the people involved,” Spagnuolo said. “I appreciate them tremendously. We’ve been chasing the feeling of being in an NFL winning locker room. It feels so special, all the work you put into it, and it’s a week-by-week thing. The work you put in during the week is demanding. Our players, our coaches, they go through a lot. Prior to that, it hadn’t been great. But this feels good, and I think the organization can carry this into the next season.”
It can’t really. Not with all the changes that will be made. The next head coach will know nothing about this game. For the players, it will be a distant memory. But for now, it feels good.
“[We] ran the ball, played good defense and stopped them on third down,” Spagnuolo said. “It just feels really good.”
If this was his final day as a Giants coach, Spagnuolo wanted a keepsake. He asked a photographer to take a picture of him and Eli Manning as they walked off the field in triumph.
“We’ve both been through a lot, none more than him this season,” Spagnuolo said. “But he never changed. I value that in people that can stay that balanced through ups and downs. He’s had the highest of highs, and this was certainly very, very low. But he’s a tremendous competitor, and I appreciate him greatly.”
Spagnuolo never changed either.