After a ‘sabbatical,’ Vic Fangio returns as Dolphins defensive coordinator
Vic Fangio hasn’t been coaching on a day-to-day basis in the last year, but he remained as close to the NFL as he could.
He spent much of his time along the Florida Panhandle in Destin, with an elaborate office setup probably not much different from the one he will have at the Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens. A computer with access to NFL games allowed him to stay up to date with the league everywhere he went, whether it was to Philadelphia to visit family or the Bay Area, where he spent multiple seasons as the defensive coordinator for the University of Stanford and the San Francisco 49ers, or even a local library.
“I kind of treated it like a college professor on a sabbatical and was watching a lot of NFL tape more from the situational standpoint, rather than studying a team per se,” he said.
The Dolphins on Monday officially introduced Fangio as their newest defensive coordinator, replacing Josh Boyer. Miami agreed to terms with Fangio on Jan. 29 but didn’t officially announce the hiring until Feb. 15, after Fangio completed assisting the Philadelphia Eagles with prep for Super Bowl 57, helping the offense with a defensive perspective.
Though it was previously reported that he spent the 2022 season as a consultant, Fangio took time away from the game after being fired as Denver Broncos head coach. Fangio, who said he has relationships with Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and head coach Nick Sirianni, dropped by Philadelphia’s practice facility at times when he visited family. But it wasn’t until after the conference championship game that he signed a contract to work with the Eagles.
The 64-year-old Fangio, a longtime defensive coordinator with three decades of NFL experience, said he never contemplated retirement. “I still have a lot of coaching left,” he said.
And after a year away from coaching, he was a defensive mind in high demand. But he settled on Miami not too long after the Dolphins parted ways with Boyer on Jan. 19. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said hiring Fangio, whom he never coached with but was linked to as a potential defensive coordinator last year, was a “very easy decision when given the opportunity.”
“[Fangio is] a guy that takes professional football serious[ly] but also the obligation to continue to evolve and get better,” McDaniel said. “You don’t have a sustaining career for longer than I’ve been alive, really, like Vic has without that fearless chase of continuing to evolve and get better and be your best version of yourself as you age with grace.”
Fangio named safety Jevon Holland and outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips as players he liked during the draft process. He said he’s “hopeful and confident” Holland, who led Miami with two interceptions last season, can be “one of the top safeties in the league.” Fangio also said he’s “anxious” to be reunited with outside linebacker Bradley Chubb after coaching him in Denver, a tenure that included Pro Bowl honors but was also beset by injuries.
Fangio’s arrival seemingly marks a philosophical change from Boyer, who led a blitz-heavy unit in 2022. Fangio has been lauded for installing defensive principles that are light on blitzing and are better equipped to combat modern offensive schemes. But asked how he would describe his defensive philosophy, Fangio said he isn’t into “buzzwords,” preaching evolution and adaptability over any overarching theme. He did, however, say he’s thought of new schemes that he’s looking forward to trying out during organized team activities in spring.
“We’re in charge of not letting the other team score,” he said, “and we’ll do anything and everything to do that. I’ve been [in] places where we pressured a lot. I’ve been [in] places where we didn’t pressure very much. You’ve got to fit the scheme to the players that you have, while also factoring in the opponents that you’re playing.
“Hopefully we’ll be a team that will keep the points down, make it hard for teams to score a lot of points and put our offense in position to score points for us.”
With several players set to become free agents, though, as well as a new scheme, the Dolphins’ defense could look different at multiple positions, such as cornerback and inside linebacker, over the next few weeks. “You can rest assured if there’s somebody I feel strong about, I’ll be in and out of [general manager Chris Grier’s] office,” he said with a smile.
Asked how close the Dolphins’ defense is to playing at the level of a championship team, Fangio quipped: “Can we get one practice in?”
But in bringing Fangio to South Florida, the Dolphins landed a coveted defensive coach they believe can turn around a unit that underperformed in hopes of building a contender in the 2023 season.
“I think the Dolphins are one of those franchises that the NFL is a better league when the Dolphins are relevant and in the hunt,” he said. “Hopefully we can get it back to that.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2023 at 3:28 PM.
