The Great Fangio Mystery Remains ... But Dolphins Happy With Result Regardless

How Vic Fangio got to Miami still is a strange story, but more importantly he has made a good quick impression as the new Dolphins defensive coordinator

The early returns regarding Vic Fangio's impact and potential impact on the Miami Dolphins defense generally have been positive, which is what everybody should have expected.

But Fangio did nothing at the end of minicamp to shoot down the report of just how close he was to actually becoming defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles intead.

It's a strange story actually, one that was reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, that suggested Fangio was all set to take over as DC for the Eagles until an issue of tampering from the Arizona Cardinals with their eventual new head coach Jonathan Gannon.

“The interesting part about it would be this, I think it impacted a lot of peoples’ lives. Vic Fangio, for example, probably would not have taken the Dolphins defensive coordinator job and would be the defensive coordinator in Philadelphia today if everything was on the up and up. And so, it didn’t just impact the Cardinals and their job with Jonathan Gannon, it impacted others as well,” Schefter said on 975thefanatic in early May. “I think everybody knows – in any line of work – if they’re on an expiring contract or they’re under consideration, they still have responsibilities to their employer to finish the job the right way… In this particular case, I just think the Eagles weren’t comfortable with the information that they learned Jeffrey [Lurie] brought it up to Michael Bidwill, and this is where the organizations wound up.”

Fangio met with the Dolphins reporters after practice Thursday, his first media session since the Schefter report came out, and he certainly didn't shoot down the idea that he could have been with the Eagles now if not for the Gannon situation.

"That’s possible," Fangio said, "but I will neither confirm nor deny."

Fangio, of course, worked with the Eagles as they prepared for their Super Bowl matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs after signing a two-week contract and also is from Pennsylvania.

What wasn't addressed in Schefter's report and remains unclear is what the Cardinals tampering with Gannon — Philadelphia and Arizona eventually resolved the issue by swapping 2023 third-round picks to the benefit of the Eagles — had to do with Fangio moving on from the idea of coaching the Eagles defense. After all, they weren't the ones who did anything wrong in this scenario.

The whole Fangio hiring process was a bit bizarre because there was a national report he was joining the Dolphins, followed by two national reporters saying he hadn't made his mind, and the four days later (on Feb. 2) that it was going to be the Dolphins after all.

The Feb. 2 date was after new Arizona GM Monti Ossenfort reportedly made improper contact with Gannon in the days following the NFC Championship Game.

On Feb. 2, Fangio was in the middle of his two-week contract with the Eagles, so it made sense that the Dolphins couldn't make anything official until after the Super Bowl.

So here we are now, unsolved mystery and all.

HILL, BAKER OFFER FANGIO INSIGHT

Along with Fangio, the defensive coaching staff also added Chargers defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill as its new secondary coach.

Hill, who previously played and coached for the Dolphins, served as DB coach for the Denver Broncos in 2019 and 2020 when Fangio was their head coach, joining him after serving as Miami assistant DB coach in 2018.

So Hill is in a great position to talk about Fangio as a defensive coordinator.

“I think the biggest thing with Vic is he’s strong in his convictions," Hill said. "It’s worked over time. He knows where the trouble shoots are at, he knows how the teams are trying to attack him. I think he’s always looking to move the down around and help our guys and making sure that even though we have a talented group that no one feels that stress just for the whole game. He’s able to do that and I think that’s the way to play. When the guys know that it’s constantly moving, teams got to find it and then when you need your guys to show up on third down, on money downs, you need your premium guys to step up."

 "The other thing with Vic is he’s always not looking to stay stagnant. He’s always looking to what’s the next thing, what’s the next thing in the NFL. How it changes from our scheme, and how we can incorporate our scheme to make it better each year. Those are important things that I learned over time is to just make sure that you’re staying ahead of the curve in this league because it’s forever changing, and you just don’t want to be that system that stalls out.”

For the players, the early feedback is that Fangio's defense gives them some freedom.

“He’s a great guy, he really is," linebacker Jerome Baker said. "He’s one of those coaches that he will sit down and explain every guy’s role what they got to do on every play and that’s all you can ask for as a linebacker. You really just try to understand the defense and he really sits down and explains everybody’s role and how you can get better. Whether you do good or not he’s just coaching you up to get better. It’s definitely fun.

“You’ve got to be a smart player to play in this defense, but once you get it down and once you have an idea of what you’re doing it’s so fun playing. Just the different things we do, the different things we ask from guys, it’s definitely going to be fun, so I’m excited.”

FANGIO'S FOCUS

With the Dolphins, Fangio inherited a defense with some major top-end talent, starting with Xavien Howard, Jalen Ramsey and Bradley Chubb, along with up-and-coming starts like Jevon Holland, Jaelan Phillips and Christian Wilkins.

But, like everything else, not everything is perfect, and Fangio himself acknowledged that some of the supporting players will have to step up.

"We have some really good talent at some places," Fangio said. "In other places, we’ve got to find the talent. I think it’s a good mix right now. Our good players have got to play really good for us to be good and we’ve got to find the other guys to fill in that play good in spite of their lack of playing time and experience."