Throughout his career, Spanos has been to the Super Bowl three times, winning two of them with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2006 and 2009, and had been to the College National Championship once; in 2019 with Alabama.

Spanos attended Keystone Oaks High School, located in the South Hills suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and played in the 1989 Big 33 Football Classic.

Spanos stayed at Tulsa for a year after his playing career concluded to assist coaching the linebackers.

On January 18, 2014, Spanos left the Bruins and was hired by Ken Whisenhunt of the Tennessee Titans as linebackers coach.

[5] Spanos resigned as defensive coordinator at UConn in August 2022, two weeks before the beginning of the football season.