The Chiefs tried pretty hard to hire Kelvin Sheppard to be on their coaching staff before the Lions got him
Imagine Sheppard in Kansas City instead of Detroit, it could have happened
The 2017 season was not that long ago. Not even 10 years ago at this point. At that time, current Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard was still playing linebacker in the NFL. His defensive coordinator and his head coach for a short period of time in New York was the current Chiefs defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo.
The two formed quite a bond during their two years together in New York. It was Spagnulo who told Sheppard that he should be a coach someday. He told him, “I think you’d make a heck of a football coach.” When Sheppard retired after the 2018 season, he took a couple of years off, then worked at LSU for a year before getting into coaching. At that time, the Chiefs needed a linebackers coach.
The Chiefs tried to hire Kelvin Sheppard, but the Lions wound up getting him
On Thursday, Spagnuolo was asked about Sheppard, and he said that there were multiple times when he and the Chiefs were trying to get Sheppard on the Kansas City coaching staff. They were in need of an outside linebackers coach, and so were the Lions. Sheppard ultimately chose to go with Dan Campbell, another guy who was his interim head coach during his time with the Dolphins. A short while later, the Chiefs hired Ken Flajole for their role.
A few years later and Sheppard is now the Lions’ defensive coordinator, but he says he owes a lot to Spagnuolo, as well as Campbell and Aaron Glenn.
“Yeah, it’s unbelievable. I owe Spags a lot. Obviously, it starts with (Lions Head Coach) Dan Campbell, (Jets Head Coach) Aaron Glenn, as far as my progression as a coach in this profession. Hands-on, giving me the opportunity and all of that. But Spags was one of the first guys outside of Dan to believe in my ability to be a coach, told me a long time ago. It’s the reason why I meet with (Lions LB) Jack (Campbell) the way I do, because that’s the first coordinator I had expand my mind like that at the NFL level. In college, it was John Chavis – they called him ‘Chief’ – in the League, it was Steve Spagnuolo. And give me the freedom to do things on the field because he trusted me. And that player-to-coach relationship expanded to post-career.
“He was the guy pushing me, ‘You need to go coach. You need to coach. Here’s the whys.’ He always explained the whys. I appreciated coaches like that. And believing in me, but then, importantly, pouring into me non-stop. Now, I haven’t heard the phone ring this week, but before this, constant. I mean, I’m like, ‘You’ve got a game today, don’t you?’ He was like, ‘Good luck. I’m rooting for you, brother.’ Training camp, every week – I mean weekly – I’m going to have a text message from Spags, ‘You need anything? You got any thoughts? Anything?’ And he doesn’t have to do that.
I mean, he’s a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator. He has a million things on his plate over there. They’re expected to win the Super Bowl every year, and granted, he finds time to reach out to me. So, I mean, I owe a lot to Spags. Obviously, outside of this week, we talk on the regular. And that’s why you see a lot of replications. Like our offense said, ‘Kind of looks like y’all on third down Shepp. Some of these coverages kind of look like you.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, duh.’ But, no, just the utmost respect for those guys in totality, but Spags definitely holds a special place with me.”
On “Sunday Night Football,” Sheppard will go head-to-head with Spagnuolo for the first time as a defensive coordinator. We’ll see who comes out on top.
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