Steve Spagnuolo says ‘stick to the process’ despite Giants’ 0-2 start
Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo during training camp in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. Credit: Brad Penner
Steve Spagnuolo may not have been imparting direct advice to his boss, but his reflection on his own situation 10 years ago should reach head coach Ben McAdoo’s ears.
In a week when the Giants are 0-2 and McAdoo is exploring what he called potentially “drastic” changes on offense, including ceding the play-calling, Spagnuolo spoke about the 2007 Giants team that started out the same way and went on to win a Super Bowl.
At this point in 2007, Spagnuolo was a new defensive coordinator with the Giants and they had allowed 80 points in two games.
“You don’t give up on what you’re doing,” Spagnuolo said. “If you believe in what you’re doing and the way you do it, you don’t all of a sudden bail on it because you failed to win two football games.”
The Giants won in Week 3 that season, on the road against a division opponent to fully set up the potentially parallel narrative you’ll undoubtedly hear if the Giants can beat the Eagles on Sunday. It was a 24-17 win in Washington on Sept. 23, 2007. Spagnuolo stood by his system and rode it all the way to Super Bowl XLII.
The Giants’ 2017 offense is in a bit of a different predicament. This is the fourth year under McAdoo’s system, not the first as it was for the defense in 2007. The learning curve should be flattened out by now. And the troubles when it comes to scoring go back all the way to last year.
The lesson, though, might be the same.
“It’s the old cliché: Stick to the process, stick to what you are doing,” Spagnuolo said. “Believe in it. Trust in it. Trust in each other and move on.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
