Vic Fangio’s coaching journey started in the 1970s as a high school assistant in Pennsylvania, and it has taken him across the country, leading him to become one of the most creative defensive minds in the NFL.
Now at 66, Fangio is at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the city where he began his NFL coaching career, as the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, the team he grew up rooting for. This is his chance to complete his career with a Super Bowl win.
“I grew up a Philadelphia sports fan,” Fangio said. “Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, started my pro career in Philadelphia with the USFL. And now I’ll probably end it here one of these years. It’s kind of come full circle. … I kind of fit there.”
Fangio has revamped a defense that ranked near the bottom of the NFL in 2023, turning it into one of the league’s best. The Eagles now lead in advanced defensive stats and have allowed the second-fewest points in the league.
He’s a big reason why the Eagles are in the Super Bowl, offering Fangio a chance to win his first championship after 38 seasons in the NFL, following a tough head coaching stint in Denver.
“I still really like to do it. I think I’m still halfway decent at it,” Fangio said. “It’s great. If you hang around long enough the tide will turn.”
Fangio’s NFL career began coaching one of the top linebacker groups ever, the “Dome Patrol” in New Orleans in 1986. He later became the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 1995. Since then, except for a brief stint at Stanford, he’s spent most of his career in the NFL, creating a defensive style that has influenced many teams. His strategy focuses on disguising coverages and keeping two safeties deep to avoid big plays.
Fangio’s only previous Super Bowl appearance came in the 2012 season when he lost to Baltimore with the San Francisco 49ers at the Superdome.
“When you talk about coaches, sometimes you’re like ‘He’s been a good coach for years.’ He’s very good coach for decades, which is impressive,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said.
“He’s had an unbelievable career and done so many good things and just so grateful that he’s on the staff. He has the standard of how it’s supposed to look and holds the guys to that standard. He’s not afraid to tell you what he thinks if you don’t meet the standard and praise you if you do meet the standards.”
Fangio has played a key role in turning around the Eagles’ defense. He saw enough potential in free-agent Zack Baun to turn him from a special teams player with limited defensive snaps in New Orleans into an All-Pro linebacker and a finalist for AP Defensive Player of the Year in Philadelphia.
Fangio has also helped develop two rookie starters in the secondary, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, which was a big factor in the team’s success.
“He’s like a father figure,” Mitchell said. “He’s going to hold you accountable. He’s serious. But he’s got jokes too. He’s funny as well.”
However, Fangio will face his toughest challenge on Sunday against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fangio’s 0-8 record against Mahomes as a head coach in Denver and a play-caller in Miami is well-known, but it doesn’t tell the full story. He never had a defense as strong as the one he’s working with now. His previous defenses allowed just 21.6 points per game against Kansas City, with Mahomes throwing only 10 touchdowns in those games and having a lower passer rating (95.9) and yards per attempt (7.3) than his career averages.
“Every time I’ve played Coach Fangio, there’s been different changeups and different things he’s thrown at us,” Mahomes said. “That’s what makes him so great. He won’t do what he did the last time.”
Mahomes described playing against Fangio as a “chess match,” and Fangio emphasized the need to change up strategies because of Mahomes’ ability to read defenses both before and after the snap.
“There is no secret. This is his seventh year as a starter. No one has gotten the formula to beat him,” Fangio said. “He’s won the chess match against me, the final score. We’ll see if there’s something we can come up with.”
