Family, Phillies And The Philadium: The Story Behind Vic Fangio's Return To Philadelphia

The veteran defensive coordinator hopes to finish his professional coaching career where it started.

Eagles DC Vic Fangio meets with reporters on May 9, 2024. / John McMullen/Eagled Today

PHILADELPHIA - Family, the Phillies and a South Philadelphia restaurant.

Those are some of the reasons storied defensive coordinator Vic Fangio wants to finish his professional coaching career where it started: in the City of Brotherly Love.

The family aspect of Fangio's desire to return is obvious. The 65-year-old is from Dunmore in Northeast Pennsylvania and noted in his introductory press conference as the new DC of the Eagles: “My kids live two hours south of here. My mother, who's 97, lives two hours north of here. So, a lot of family considerations.”

The Phillies are a lesser-known part of Fangio’s gravitational pull back to what he considers home and an even more obscure draw is a South Philly landmark eatery. The veteran coach has loved the city’s baseball team since he was a kid and used to eat at The Philadium when Veterans Stadium and The Spectrum were the jewels of the city's sports complex.

“it was exactly 40 years ago when I started my pro coaching career across the street at Veterans Stadium. … So, 40 years later, here I am,” Fangio said of his return to Philadelphia as a coach, something that harkened back to 1984 when Jim Mora Sr. gave Fangio his first professional job as a defensive assistant with the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars. 

“A lot of things change, and a lot of things don't,” the veteran coach continued. “One of the first things I've done, several times, I still go to the Philadium down on Packer [Avenue] for my meals, just like I did way back then.”

Fangio then turned toward the local Boys of Summer, who are off to an MLB-best start of 29-13 this season.

“Phillies are still playing good. You guys didn't clobber them for losing one game yesterday, did you?” Fangio smiled.

Fangio loves the Phillies so much he was asked why football became his career.

"I don't know. It's a good question," he said. "I had a great high school coach. When he retired, he was the second-winningest coach in the state of Pennsylvania, Jack Henzes, and played for him, and I kind of caught the bug from him for football.

"Coaching in football has more of an impact on the game than baseball does and most other sports. There's no other sport where you huddle up, or you're making a call every single time, so you have an important impact."

In the 40 years in between having an impact at Broad and Pattison in South Philadelphia,  Fangio took on the nomadic existence of most football lifers with stops in New Orleans, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Houston, Baltimore, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, and Miami. 

A short respite in 2022 as a consultant with the Eagles would have gotten Fangio back a little sooner had the timing worked out with Jonathan Gannon’s exit to become the head coach in Arizona, resulting in a one-year sojourn with the Dolphins as the highest-paid coordinator in NFL history. 

In Fangio’s mind, it’s past the time to stop putting the outpost stickers on the suitcase and the airport magnets on the fridge.

“I thought it would be cool to hopefully end it here,” Fangio said. 

When pressed to confirm this would be his last coaching stop Fangio did press pause, however. He's still too savvy to box himself in with a league that changes so quickly.

“I would think so, but as we all know in this business, nothing's guaranteed,” Fangio said.

That said, after death and taxes, Fangio improving a defense might be the closest thing you can get to an ironclad assurance.  

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