I’ve known Vic Fangio for 40 years. First met him in February of 1984 in of all places, Deland, Fla., which happens to be the home of Stetson University where the Philadelphia Stars held training camp during their three years of existence.
We both are from coal country. Vic is a product of Dunmore, which is a stone’s throw from Scranton.
I was from nearby Wilkes-Barre. He went to East Stroudsburg. I went to Wilkes.
I was a 30-year-old sports writer covering the Stars for the Philadelphia Daily News back then.
Vic was a 26-year-old low-level defensive assistant on Jim Mora’s staff.
When I say low-level, I mean low-level. Vic, who was just two years removed from serving as the defensive coordinator at Milford Academy, a New York prep school about 25 miles west of Cooperstown, spent most of the ’84 season sleeping in the basement of Veterans Stadium to save the few cents the Stars were paying him.
Fangio had been a graduate assistant at the University of North Carolina in the fall of ’83. Got hired by Mora to do the Stars’ coaching grunt work and learn the ropes. He learned them fast. And well.
“I went there with the understanding that after the [Stars’] spring season, I would return to North Carolina,’’ Fangio said. “But our offensive coordinator, Joe Pendry, left to become the head coach of the Pittsburgh Maulers. Some other coaches were shuffled around and Jim offered me a full-time job. He didn’t want me to go back to Chapel Hill. So I was the defensive quality control coach and also the strength coach. The rest is history, I guess.’’
Indeed it is. In the four-plus decades since he spent his first night sawing z’s on a cot in the bowels of the Vet, Fangio has established himself as one of the best defensive coaches in NFL history.
At 66, his career – and life – have come full circle. He’s back in Philadelphia where it all started for him. He’s on his 10th NFL team and is in charge of his eighth NFL defense, including three as the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
I feel reasonably confident that there won’t be a ninth. The main appeal of the Eagles job for Vic is location, location, location. It has brought him back to his Pennsylvania roots, a mere 2-hour ride up the Northeast Extension from Dunmore, a place he always will hold dear.
Take it from me. Philly is a great place from which to ride off into the sunset.
Fangio took over an Eagles defense that couldn’t get out of its own way last season and has turned it into one of the league’s better units, maximizing the abilities of talented young players like cornerbacks Quinyan Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, linebackers Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean and defensive tackle Jalen Carter.
The Eagles went into their big Week 11 battle against Washington ranked sixth in the league in points allowed (17.9), second in yards allowed (274.2), fourth in touchdown passes allowed (8), fourth in opponent passer rating (78.6) and 14th in takeaways (12).
Last year, the Eagles finished 30th, 26th, 31st, 29th and 25th respectively in those five categories.
In their last five games leading up to Washington, they allowed just 13.0 points and 200.8 yards per game. Gave up just one TD pass and had 10 takeaways in those five games and held their opponents to a 34.9 third-down success rate.
Early in the season, during the Eagles’ 2-2 start, the defense had a plethora of costly missed tackles. Since the bye week, however, they’ve been one of the best tackling teams in the league.
Averaged nearly nine missed tackles per game in the first four games this season. In the last five games, they’ve averaged just 4.2, according to Pro Football Focus.
Fangio said the defensive coaches have emphasized tackling in practice every day since the bye week.
“I had an old coach when I first started in pro ball who said, ‘If you emphasize something, you’ve got a chance to get it [right],’’’ he said. “That’s what’s happened here. Plus, we’ve played better overall, and the ball hasn’t been in the open field as much.’’
That “old coach’’ was the guy who gave Fangio the first – and second – big breaks of his career – Jim Mora. Mora hired him in Philly, then brought him along to New Orleans in ’86 as his linebackers coach when he got the Saints job.
“Jim, to me, is one of the most underrated great coaches in the league because he just never did much in the playoffs. Never quite had the overall team to go far, but was a damn good coach and a guy that I’ve always looked up to.’’
Mora is 32nd in career NFL wins with 125. Throw in the 43 he won with the Stars and he’d have 168, just four behind Hall of Famer Bill Parcells.
The criticism of Fangio by some after he left Miami last season was that he had trouble communicating with the Dolphins players.
Well, that hasn’t been a problem with the Eagles where the old man is doing wonders with one of the youngest defenses in the league.
The Eagles have just one starter on defense who is older than 27 (cornerback Darius Slay, 32). The average age of their 11 starters is 25.0.
“We are not afraid to play young players,’’ Fangio said. “I never have been and never will be, so long as they can do their job.’’
“Vic is here to correct us,’’ said 25-year-old third-year safety Reed Blankenship. “Sometimes you hate it. Sometimes you like it. But at the end of the day, that’s football. You have to have a tough shell and learn how to be mentally strong through that and just apply it through the next week.’’
Said linebacker Zack Baun: “Vic holds us accountable. There is a high standard with Vic. Obviously, we have high standards ourselves. So that marriage is crucial.’’ *
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