State Your Case: Chiefs' Steve Spagnuolo for PFWA’s 'Dr. Z' Award

By John Turney 

Steve Spagnualo

Maybe somebody was listening.

In February, I suggested that Chiefs' defensive coordinator Steve Spagnualo should be one of the recipients of the Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman Award, a lifetime achievement honor given annually by the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).

Well, as it turns out, he is.

He and long-time offensive line coach Bill Callahan, now with the Tennessee Titans, were named this week as winners of the award, outpolling Larry Beightol, Tom Catlin and Jeff Stoutland to become the 24th and 25th recipients of the "Dr. Z" honor. Both Spagnuolo and Callahan had stints as head coaches but made their marks in the NFL as assistants.

Callahan is noted for his prowess as an offensive-line coach and coordinator, coaching 14 Pro Bowl offensive linemen in those roles. He's been in the NFL since 1995, stepping away only for the 2004-07 seasons when he served as head coach at the University of Nebraska.

Spagnuolo, known as "Spags", has been the winning defensive coordinator for four Super Bowl champions and is the only coordinator to coach the winning defense for two different franchises.

The first ring he won was with the 2007 New York Giants, when his defense slowed the then-unbeaten New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Attempting to become the first 19-0 team in league history, New England was held to 14 points as Spagnuolo's pressure defense harassed Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady.

The last three Super Bowl rings were with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

Both are deserving.

That said, I do have a concern:. Both coaches are still active, which means they jumped a long line of others who aren't. As happens with older players in the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame process, worthy coaches who worked a generation or two ago are, to some degree, overlooked. Perhaps there was room this year for Catlin or Beightol ... or a couple of personal favorites, Floyd Peters and Jim Hanifan.

Or perhaps ... next year?

In the meantime, congratulations to Spagnuolo and Callahan, and, hopefully, in 2025 we can congratulate past coaches who are beginning to form their own version of the "seniors' swamp."