With four decades of coaching under his belt, new Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio must be doing something right to have such longevity. But what about him makes him special?
Last week, in an interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia's NFL analyst Barrett Brooks, former 11-year veteran safety Donte Whitner lifted the lid on the reasons behind Fangio’s success.
Fangio coached Whitner for three season with the 49ers, from 2011 to 2013. Fangio was with the 49ers through the 2014 season, and in all four seasons he ran the defense, San Francisco ranked in the top 5 in the league in yards allowed.
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Whitner received one of his two career Pro Bowl nods following the 2012 season, when the 49ers last made it to the Super Bowl, losing to the Ravens. In all, six members of that defense went to the Pro Bowl, and four – safety Dashon Goldson and linebackers NaVorro Bowman, Patrick Willis, and Aldon Smith – were named first-team All-Pro.
“When I got to San Francisco from Buffalo, it was like a whole different world,” said Whitner. “In Buffalo, we played ‘Tampa 2,’ you really didn’t have to know much… when I got to San Francisco and under the tutelage of [secondary coach] Ed Donatell and Vic Fangio, my football IQ went through the roof.”
He said the way Fangio coaches defense makes it very digestible for players, and that Fangio’s detail-oriented methods give his unit autonomy on the field to make decisions on the fly.
“He’s the most intelligent teacher I’ve ever encountered my entire time in the NFL,” Whitner said. “I say ‘teacher’ because he does some things that are unorthodox in his coaching style.” One example Whitner used of Fangio’s unique methods is catering play calls to players who may have trouble reading and adjusting to plays on the fly. Fangio adds language into the plays that tell certain players their assignments on that play.
Philadelphia Eagles
Before agreeing to come to the Eagles, Fangio spent just one season as DC of the Dolphins. Miami’s defense enjoyed some success, ranking tenth in the league in yards allowed, but they let up 400 yards or more in four of their last six, including a 26-7 Wild Card loss to the AFC Champion Chiefs. In the days following Fangio leaving the team, some of the defensive players celebrated his exit.
“Those guys aren’t serious about football,” Whitner said of the players that didn’t get along with Fangio. “Because if you take everything that he teaches you… all the small details, and you absorb that information and you put it back out on the football field, you’re going to be an excellent football player.”
Fangio will inherit a defense that has talent, but lacked direction this past season. They ranked 31st – next to last – in the league in yards and points allowed per game over the final eight weeks of the regular season. Can he work a minor miracle and get every player pulling on the same rope?
“What he’s going to bring to that defense is empowerment,” said Whitner. “You’re not going to be stagnant in anything you do. He’s going to give the players on the field, based on the formations that they see… the ability to be able to check out of [the play call].”
“You’re going to be coached up so well in the secondary, you’re going to know exactly what route concepts are coming, and what looks to give the quarterback to get him off his primary routes.”
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