January 24, 2024
Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports
A deal is reportedly expected between Vic Fangio and the Eagles for the coach to become the team's new defensive coordinator.
The Miami Dolphins "mutually parted ways" with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who is now expected to become the Philadelphia Eagles' top target for their vacant defensive coordinator job, according to a report from ESPN.
The Dolphins and Vic Fangio have mutually agreed to part ways, sources tell me and @JFowlerESPN. Fangio now will be the top target for the Philadelphia Eagles to hire as their defensive coordinator, and a deal is expected. Miami is allowing Fangio to leave to be closer to his… pic.twitter.com/HjyMAC2S0p
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 24, 2024
Fangio is regarded by many as one of the most influential defensive minds in today's NFL. In his two most recent stints as a defensive coordinator — with the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears — Fangio conducted some of the best defenses in the NFL.
In Fangio's four years (2011-2014) in San Francisco, the 49ers compiled a 44-19-1 regular season record, including three trips to the NFC Championship Game, and one Super Bowl appearance. Those teams were driven by the defense. The 49ers had losing seasons in the two years (2010 and 2015) bookending Fangio's tenure.
In his four years (2015-2018) in Chicago, the Bears' defense improved every season, culminating with the 2018 season, when they were very clearly the best defense in the NFL.
| Year | DVOA (overall) | Pass DVOA | Run DVOA |
| 2011 - SF | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 2012 - SF | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| 2013 - SF | 13 | 11 | 15 |
| 2014 - SF | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| 2015 - CHI | 31 | 25 | 31 |
| 2016 - CHI | 22 | 18 | 28 |
| 2017 - CHI | 14 | 15 | 18 |
| 2018 - CHI | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Fangio's success as a defensive coordinator led to an opportunity as a head coach with the Denver Broncos in 2019. Despite finishing with the third ranked defense in points allowed in 2021 even after trading Von Miller, Fangio was fired after three losing seasons. It's worth noting that the quarterbacks who started for those teams included Teddy Bridgewater, Drew Lock, Jeff Driskel, Brett Rypein, Kendall Hinton, Joe Flacco, and Brandon Allen.
In 2022, Fangio opted to take a year off, while also keeping a toe in the water, so to speak. He attended about a half dozen Eagles training camp practices during the summer of 2022, in Philadelphia and Miami. He also did consulting work for the Eagles during the 2022 season.
During the 2022 playoffs, then-Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon had several interviews for head coaching jobs around the league, but when Gannon communicated that he was staying in Philly for the 2023 season, Fangio accepted a defensive coordinator position with the Dolphins, when his preference would have been Philly. After Gannon had impermissible contact with the Cardinals while the Eagles were preparing to face the Chiefs in the Super Bowl — and subsequently accepted a head coaching job in Arizona after the Eagles' loss to the Chiefs — Fangio had already committed elsewhere, forcing the Eagles to turn to Plan C.
The Eagles seemed hellbent on employing a Fangio-style defense, hiring Sean Desai, who was replaced after 13 games by Matt Patricia. The Fangio defense did not go well for the Eagles or for any of the other coordinators around the league who are branches on the Fangio tree, like Joe Barry, Joe Woods, Jonathan Gannon, Brandon Staley, and Fangio himself.
Here's how those guys fared in defensive DVOA:
• Joe Woods, Saints: 15th
• Vic Fangio, Dolphins: 19th
• Brandon Staley, Chargers: 26th
• Joe Barry, Packers: 27th
• Sean Desai, Eagles: 29th
• Jonathan Gannon, Cardinals: 32nd
There's perhaps some logic that Fangio's defense at least is the original, while the others are knockoffs. It's also fair to note that the Dolphins defense suffered a boatload of injuries in 2023, notably to Jalen Ramsey, Xavien Howard, Jaelen Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Jerome Baker, and others.
In a press conference held Wednesday, Nick Sirianni and Howie Roseman were asked about the Fangio reports:
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is now available. He consulted with the Eagles. Vic wants to move closer to home in PA. Could be Eagles DC according to @AdamSchefter
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) January 24, 2024
Here is Nick Sirianni on that pic.twitter.com/eUPlveQhaH
Fangio, who turned 65 last August, was born in Dunmore, PA, and went to high school there. He also attended East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, and his first coaching job was at Dunmore High School.
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