Mike Danna Praises Steve Spagnuolo, Thinks Chiefs' Defense Will Be 'Hungrier'
With Danna returning for 2024 and beyond, he believes the combination of continuity and an elite coordinator will come in handy moving forward.
The Kansas City Chiefs' offseason free agency tour continues, and a familiar face is back in the fold for 2024 and beyond. Defensive end Mike Danna re-signed with the Super Bowl champions on Wednesday, saying he's glad to be back with the only NFL team he's ever known.
Multiple elements factored into Danna's final free agency decision. He noted the desire to win as his main one, although his teammates also made it hard for him to seriously entertain leaving Kansas City. The organization itself, which fosters one of the most consistent winning cultures in sports, bolstered the logic.
The cherry on top may have been Danna's defensive coordinator. He gushed about Steve Spagnuolo to local media this week, citing him as someone who lets everyone be themselves within his fun scheme.
“Just the freedom he gives you, man,” Danna said. “Just the freedom he gives you and just letting you play ball. There’s so much love with Coach Spags. I’ve been saying it for months and months now: he’s a wizard. Whatever he schemes up, whatever he’s cooking up in that room, he’s always coming out with everything [and] with all his tricks. Playing under him is just awesome because you can play freely. You can do your thing, get after the quarterback, you never know what you’re going to be doing in his system. I’m happy to be back, and I can’t wait to get to work.”
Under Spagnuolo, the Chiefs have steadily improved over the course of regular seasons. The 2019-2022 defenses normally saw late improvements from players, and last season was the culmination of a lot of effort. General manager Brett Veach's rookie and sophomore classes made an impact, some savvy free agent pickups contributed in major ways and Spagnuolo had ultimate freedom. The result was a group that ranked second in points and yards allowed during the regular season.
A good deal of those players are back for the 2024-25 campaign. Danna, Chris Jones, multiple other defensive linemen and linebacker Drue Tranquill re-upped on new contracts this offseason. As Spagnuolo tweaks his lineups, he won't be forced to deal with lackluster depth or rely on rookies more than he chooses to. He has familiarity and trust built up in abundance, as does Danna. With that in mind, Danna thinks the sky is the limit.
“Last year we were relentless but this year, I imagine it being 10 times more,” Danna said. “There’s dudes hungrier now than they were last year. I know myself, I still feel like I have a chip on my shoulder. I still feel like I’ve got something to prove out there. There’s no settling down on this end, on our side of the ball. We’ve got something to prove, we’ve got something to display every time we go against somebody. I can’t wait to get back with them.”
Finding statistical ways to improve in the regular season will be no easy task. A lot of that has nothing to do with personnel, but rather where the Chiefs ranked last year. That side of the football was among the tops in all of football in the aforementioned scoring and yardage stats, in addition to advanced numbers like DVOA and EPA per play. Even if cornerback L'Jarius Sneed wasn't traded, the odds of a repeat performance were never going to be too high.
That isn't Kansas City's objective, though. If they can maintain a top five-to-10 defense, that should be more than enough assuming the offense also picks up some slack. Come playoff time, Spaguolo is perhaps the NFL's most diabolical and consistently excellent defensive coordinator. He's got the chess pieces, Danna among them, to have success once again.
If the level of hunger somehow finds a way to increase, maybe a three-peat isn't as improbable as it seems on the surface.
