It actually makes a lot of sense that Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo would have a lot of good things to say about San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
This isn’t your classic, standard-issue gamesmanship in the media of a coach purposely gassing up the talents of an opposing team or player, fully knowing they suck, and fully knowing they’re going to annihilate them that particular Sunday. Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots made that brand of podium speak an art form during their dynastic two-decade run. They tore through the rest of their division for the better part of 20 years, all the while insisting that they were facing worthy adversaries.
Welp. The Chiefs are the NFL’s new dynasty. Right on the heels of The Hoodie and TB12 are the oft-discussed, offense-centric trio of Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce. But nobody should downplay the work that Spagnuolo has done with his side of the ball, putting playmakers like Chris Jones, L’Jarius Sneed, Trent McDuffie and others in optimal positions to thrive.
Spags has now won four Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator, which is the most of all-time. He only ever got a shot as a head coach with the Rams franchise before they moved back to Los Angeles. They were a total mess. Head coaches and quarterbacks command a lot of attention as is. Reid and Mahomes are downright legendary. Spags is criminally overlooked year in and year out. You could say the same for a certain 49ers QB who went from Mr. Irrelevant to starting in the Super Bowl as an NFL sophomore.
So there you go. Boom. The link between Purdy and Spags is easy to see — and although I don’t think Purdy played a perfect game on Super Bowl Sunday whatsoever, he more than held his own given everything at stake. As Spags told NFL Media’s Peter Schrager, that led to a text exchange between himself and the San Francisco signal-caller in the aftermath of the Chiefs’ thrilling 25-22 overtime win:
Purdy went from a great, sentimental underdog story to the most scrutinized, dissected player in all of football seemingly overnight. Once the Niners’ Super Bowl hype train fired up again this season, the microscope came out. Anyone who watched Purdy’s film could see an array of anticipatory throws, pinpoint ball placement and accuracy particularly in the 10- to 15-yard range, and quick decision-making. A perfect match for Kyle Shanahan’s system.
But here’s a shocker: A still relatively inexperienced NFL starting quarterback who was the very last pick in his draft class lost the Super Bowl to a counterpart in Mahomes who’s already pushing Brady in the GOAT conversation, a head coach in Reid who’s beginning to push Belichick in the GOAT coaching conversation, and a defensive coordinator who’s pushing Belichick as the GOAT at that specific job, too.
You have to love Spags for letting Purdy know he has his respect. That’s a hell of an endorsement from an on-field enemy who didn’t have to bother going out of his way to give it. Purdy should cherish that, continue to grind, build up a little more of that arm strength, and come back ready to bounce back in 2024 and beyond. Will he still be an effective QB if and when the 49ers don’t have an all-star cast of skill position studs around him? Impossible to know for sure. What is clear is that there are common qualities of grit, a healthy chip on the shoulder, and an ability to excel without the flattery of public validation that, at least to me, creates a strong link between the raging Spags and Purdy success stories.
As for head coaching aspirations in the future, Spags told Schrager he’s at peace with whatever happens, but wouldn’t rule out a return to that role if the right opportunity presented itself. He kind of has the dream job in Kansas City right now, though.
