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Steve Spagnuolo played his college football at Springfield in Massachusetts. He has coached at the college level, including in 1993-94 at the University of Maine, and has coached in Europe. Now, he's the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, facing the daunting task of stopping Tom Brady and the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Go back. Fast forward. Slow. Go back. Steve Spagnuolo’s eyes didn’t leave the video monitor as his fingers quickly worked the remote that determined what he was watching. Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, wouldn’t stop watching Tom Brady.

Fast forward. Slow.

“Sometimes I just find myself sitting there, admiring the quarterback and what he does and forget about trying to stop him,” said Spagnuolo, whose job skills face their biggest challenge tonight in the Super Bowl. To hand the Patriots their first loss in the final game of the season, Spagnuolo must scheme and plan and find a way to stop Brady and keep the Patriots’ offense off the field.

Good luck. Two months ago, opponents talked of finding the blueprint to beat the Patriots. They might as well have gone looking for the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine in the Superstition Mountains that overlook Phoenix.

“Pick your poison,” Spagnuolo said. “People took different approaches. Nobody’s going to rediscover any special defenses now. It comes down to picking what you want to do against them based on the players that you have. You don’t want to put your players in any situation that they can’t handle.

“(The Patriots) pose a lot of problems. They have tremendous weapons and now they’ve got their running game in gear. The receivers that they have all present different kinds of problems. Of course, the guy pulling the trigger (Tom Brady), as we all know, is very special.”

Some people think Spagnuolo is special. At Tuesday’s Super Bowl media day, he had to dodge questions regarding the head- coach opening in Washington. Someone has to replace Joe Gibbs, and Spagnuolo is the hot new face.

He’s a Massachusetts guy, a wide receiver who played football at Springfield College nearly 25 years ago. Howie Vandersea, who later moved on to Bowdoin College, was his coach. Spagnuolo started building his coaching resume.

He landed at Maine in 1993-94, coaching defensive backs and linebackers. That was after he was a scout for the San Diego Chargers and before he moved on to Rutgers. Two stops in NFL Europe, the last with the Frankfurt Galaxy in 1998, led to a job as linebackers coach with Andy Reid in Philadelphia.

“I can’t remember a situation in this business where I said I wish I wasn’t there or this is not what I expected,” said Spagnuolo. “I was able to coach in college. I was able to coach over in Europe. I’ve been able to coach in this league. It’s been widespread. It’s been a lot of friends, a lot of relationships. I wouldn’t want to change anything.”

This is his second Super Bowl. Three years ago he and the Eagles tried to stop the Patriots in the Super Bowl at Jacksonville, Fla. “We were up 14-7 and thought we played a good first half,” said Spagnuolo.

The Patriots played a better second half and won their third Super Bowl.

Nearly three years later and now with the Giants, Spagnuolo had a second chance against the Patriots in the final game of the 2007 regular season at the Meadowlands.

“I’m disappointed that we gave up 38 points. After the game we felt like in some regards that we did a good job. But then you look at the scoreboard and there are 38 points. That’s a credit to them.”

Nick Kaczur, the Patriots’ right tackle, was injured and missed the game against the Giants, but he has done his homework since.

“It definitely takes preparation, and the one-on-one battles are going to be big,” he said. “You’ve got to know where they’re trying to go and put yourself in the right position. Sometimes they do it off a blitz and sometimes they don’t.”

That’s Spagnuolo’s plan: Keep the Brady and the Patriots guessing.

“It’s a really good defense,” said left tackle Matt Light. “They’re a type of defense that wants to get to the quarterback regardless of what’s going on. Their goal this season,...