Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo Quotes
July 23, 2025
OPENING STATEMENT: “Listen, before we get rolling here, I’ll just share something with you, so the first meeting we had with the defense the other night, I just felt compelled to tell them, ‘Don’t ever take this for granted’, it gets hard out here and all of that and I told them, ‘Look, at my age I’m happy to be in the first meeting at training camp, have a job (and) be healthy enough to do it, right?’ But these guys don’t realize how fast it goes by, (and) I’m realizing it now. I could see them all when I was talking to them all night. So, I think they get it. But we’re happy to be here and having some fun out there going against the offense. Not every play was fun but most of them, we did some good things. So, with that, I’ll just open (it) up and let you roll.”
Q: On George Karlaftis and what he has meant to the defense and the team.
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, I mean probably the first thing that sticks out with George (Karlaftis) is his character. The one thing that (General Manager) Brett (Veach) and (Head Coach) Andy (Reid) do a great job of is we bring in a lot of great character guys. That’s huge in my opinion, in today’s pro sports because usually when you’re a high character guy you’re unselfish. George has got all of that, and then his ability and his intelligence. I mean, I can remember when (Defensive Line Coach) Joe (Cullen) and I did the Zoom call with George. Because I think he was (in) the COVID-19 draft – you guys remember better than me, but I just remember that that came out in a Zoom interview. All of that, how much he loved football, high character guy (and) how important it was to him. Brett does a great job keeping those guys here.”
Q: Head Coach Andy Reid spoke about urgency; how do you emphasize urgency to the defense?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, so we normally talk about building a foundation. We’re always saying a rock-solid foundation. And listen, I try to – it gets shorter and shorter every year in my opinion, (it) feels like it – the preparation to get ready. We were hopeful, and I think most of the guys did a good job of it, but when they left after OTAs, that had to still be a work time for them. Because when you get here you can’t – in 1983 I was an intern with the Washington [Commanders]. We went to training camp on July 6th (and) we had – it was like 120 rookies for two weeks; there were six preseason games, because there were 14 games then, right? So, you had all this time at training camp to kind of get your body ready. That’s what the vets did. It’s different now. So, the sense of urgency to be ready when we come in and then build it as we’re here is really important, but to us right now it’s all about building the foundational pieces that we need during the season.”
Q: Your thoughts on Tyrann Mathieu retiring?
SPAGNUOLO: “I’m glad you brought that up. You know these young guys with the phones and stuff, it was like they immediately knew, I didn’t know. I just had a – I love – you know how I feel about (Former NFL S) Tyrann (Mathieu). I’m waiting right now to send a text or a phone call because I know he is getting inundated. But I want to probably get him on a day off. Special, special guy, I mean we came here in 2019, Tyrann and I together and he was a key piece to what we were doing, started off a little rough but got better and better. But I love Tyrann Mathieu, I’m really excited for what he – he’ll do something great moving forward. He might end up being the president, who knows? I mean he’s a dynamic guy, but I think he’ll stay somehow in athletics or football, that’s my guess.”
Q: What has Nick Bolton meant to this defense?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, he’s (Nick Bolton) just about everything. He’s Patrick Mahomes for us (the defense), I’ve said this before and were pretty multiple defensively, so if we don’t have that guy it gets really challenging. You know back when we didn’t know we were getting Nick – I had to in my mind, I was preparing, if we don’t have Nick what do we do. It’s just not the same. So, thank God he’s here.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
July 23, 2025
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: What did Tyrann Mathieu and Frank Clark bring to the team, and what they brought to defense and how did they help with the championship?
JONES: “You know me and Spags (Defense Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) had the conversation about T5 (Former NFL S Tyrann Mathieu) yesterday. T5 is like one of his favorite players, and I told Spags ‘You know, you know, I think I’m next in line.’ But he brought a sense of leadership; him and Frank Clark (Former Chiefs DE Frank Clark), a sense of tenacity, that this team was missing to get over that hump to win a ring, and we created a lot of special moments for those guys.”
Q: Kingsley Suamataia and Josh Simmons have a lot of youth and a lot of talent, what are you seeing from them on the offensive line?
JONES: “Great competition, you know? We got a lot of moving parts, the offensive line; a lot of new faces and it is a good competitive battle. Good for us also as D-Line that we can get after. And we (have) got to enjoy this competition. And I think we’ve reiterated this over the years; we have one of the hardest training camps. And I think after this training camp, they’ll be able to evaluate and see who (Kinglsey Suamataia and Josh Simmons) is the best fit for us. But I actually like it because, you know, the change up of the offensive line, you (have) got so many guys that can play (in) so many different places- guard, tackle, that it makes us better on the offensive line. Also challenges us as a defensive line.”
Q: You were joking a little bit with George Karlaftis yesterday, what did it mean for you that the team is taking care of him long term?
JONES: “I mean George (Karlaftis), you watch over the years how he progressed and how his game has grown, and I’m so proud to have my boy back for the next five to six years. And he worked his butt off for it; he didn’t take any shortcuts, didn’t cut any corners, and he’s been all in and the Chiefs did right by him.”
RB ISIAH PACHECO
Q: Do you feel like you’ve learned something about yourself, given what you experienced last season?
PACHECO: “Definitely. You know, just finding ways to get better, and most importantly, building off of last year. Camp around this time last year, I was feeling good, feeling happy about myself, went into (the) season (and) two games in, (I) got injured. So, now this is around that time where I didn’t play too much football. So, this is my time to get back on the grind. (I) just took advantage of that offseason.”
Q: How would you describe your relationship with Head Coach Andy Reid?
PACHECO: “It’s a great relationship; it reminds me of all my coaches that I’ve played for. I loved playing for all those coaches, and it makes me play harder knowing how much he cares about his guys.”
Q: On his relationship with RB Brashard Smith.
PACHECO: “It’s great. He’s a seventh-round pick, and I had that similar role when I came in here. It’s (about) finding ways to get better, and that’s on the special teams (or) wherever it may be, building a relationship with guys so you can learn a little bit more about them, and as far as the game itself – competing.”
S BRYAN COOK
Q: How did Justin Reid help you while he was here as a mentor and what did he mean to your development as a young player?
COOK: “It meant a lot, honestly. I mean, I still talk to him (Justin Reid) to this day – ask him questions as far as livelihood (and) how to manage life after football without football, obviously, because he has a lot of business he does outside the sport. In the grass, I feel like just learning his IQ. He has been in the league longer than me with a different system as well, so he has more IQ for certain things. Obviously always asking questions and feeding into it. Also, I know he has a baby girl as well, so we talk about that aspect too as far as family. Definitely big bro that I’m going to take with me outside of football.”
Q: Do you feel like you can step into a leadership role now that you’ve been in the league a couple of years and Justin Reid has moved on?
COOK: “I mean, yeah for sure, I lead them my own way, we got a lot of leaders on this team, different faces but at the end of the day the train keeps going.”
Q: A lot of you guys from the 2022 draft class have not lost a playoff game until the Super Bowl. How much of that is discussed and used as motivation or inspiration in the offseason?
COOK: “We took a heartbreaking loss, but at the same time we looked up and we didn’t realize we accomplished history too for the most franchise wins. It is just understanding what the ultimate goal is and why we do this and why we come to training camp and why we wake up at certain times of the day and are always putting things into our body as far as replenishing and things like that. It’s all for that bigger goal and for us to come short was unfortunate but you look at the bright side, I went to three-straight (Super Bowls) in three years in the league so that is all I know. For my first postseason loss to be the Super Bowl, I mean I will take that any day of the week.”
