Vic Fangio has been coaching football for 47 years, and he’s been coaching in the NFL for 40.
After all those years – nearly a half century teaching and coaching defense – you might think he’d be stubbornly set in his ways, inflexible and unwilling to waver or compromise, like a lot of older coaches in a lot of sports.
Not Vic.
One of the reasons Fangio has enjoyed sustained success is because he’s exactly the opposite.
“He stays relevant because he’s good at his job (and) how he’s able to adapt with the times,” Jalyx Hunt said after walkthrough Tuesday. “He has a way he likes to play defense, but he doesn’t force players to convert their playing styles. He just uses our playing styles to the benefit of the entire defense.”
All the Eagles’ defense has done in nearly two years under Fangio is allow an NFL-low 18.1 points per game, an NFC-low 298 yards per game and an NFC-low 4.89 yards per play, help the Eagles win an NFL-best 23 games (tied with the Lions and Bills) and win a Super Bowl.
After a modest start this year, the Eagles’ defense has been phenomenal lately. In six games since the bye week, the Eagles are allowing just 14.3 points per game, by far the fewest in the league.
“One reason Vic is still successful is that he’s been through a lot of different eras of football and coached a lot of great players and when you have that as well as the willingness to want to learn and the humility to put the right pieces around you that may be opposite of how you coach, you’re going to have success,” Adoree’ Jackson said.
“He has the humility to be able to switch it up and change. And I think that’s what keeps him where he is in this business, because he’s able to adapt and keep going and trust his players and his coaches.”
The Eagles have been playing better and better on defense since the bye week, with Nolan Smith returning after a five-game layoff, Nakobe Dean returning after missing the first six games of the season, Brandon Graham coming out of retirement and Jaelan Phillips coming over from the Dolphins.
It all came together in historic fashion Sunday, when the Eagles beat the Raiders 31-0, their first shutout since 2018, and held Vegas to 75 yards, the fewest they’ve allowed since 1955.
“The biggest thing with him is he listens,” Cooper DeJean said. “He listens to us and our input on the defense and certain calls and what we like, what we don’t like. And I think that’s a big thing. And he’s always making sure everybody’s on top of their stuff, giving constant reminders in the meeting rooms. It seems like he’s having fun coaching us.
“And we’ve got a lot of talented players on our defense, obviously, which makes it that much more fun. But he’s such a great play caller, understands the situation really well.”
Fangio has had eight top-10 defenses in his last 10 years as a defensive coordinator.
The Eagles are currently ranked 14th but they were as low as 22nd just a week ago, so with a strong finish these last three weeks, another top-10 finish is possible.
“He has a lot of confidence in the process and the people that are in the system,” cornerback Michael Carter said. “And so he’s making these calls, and he’s got 100 percent confidence in the call and the people out there to go out and execute that call at a high level.”
The Eagles have had some elite defensive coordinators over the years. A lot of ‘em.
They had the No. 1 defense in the NFL in back-to-back years under Marion Campbell in 1980 and 1981. Three top-five defenses in four years under Bud Carson in the early 1990s, including one of the greatest units ever in 1991. Back-to-back top-5 defenses under Emmitt Thomas in 1995 and 1996. Seven top-10 groups in 10 years under Jim Johnson, including three ranked No. 2. A championship defense in 2017 under Jim Schwartz and the No. 2 defense in the NFL in 2022 under Jonathan Gannon.
Fangio is as brilliant as any of them. The Eagles finished No. 1 in defense last year for the first time since 1991 and then shut down everybody in the postseason.
“He’s never gonna put himself in a box, and that’s a huge thing,” DeJean said. “And he’s never gonna limit himself to what can and can’t be done on game day.
“You’ve got that flexibility, that ability to just adapt and also have faith in what you call and everything and everything that’s on the sheet.”
Nobody makes better adjustments. Nobody makes better use of his personnel. Nobody calls the game better. And nobody is more willing to change things up if something isn’t working.
“What impresses me most with Vic is that he’s had so much success in being a defensive coordinator through decades of the NFL, but he just continues to grow as a coach,” Nick Sirianni said.
“I’ve never heard Vic say, ‘Well, I’ve always done it this way.’ All I’ve ever heard Vic say is, ‘What’s the best way to do this, this time, this game?’ That’s so impressive.
“I think that you can get into that sometimes. ‘Yeah, I’ve always done it this way.’ It’s finding out ways to win and to be the most successful each and every week. I think he’s shown different ways that he’s done that all year, and that’s kind of how I view how he’s been throughout his career. Man, I’m glad we have him.”
The Eagles, 9-5, face the Commanders in Landover, Md., on Saturday, needing one win or one Cowboys loss to reach the postseason.
And we’ve seen some encouraging signs from the offense the last couple weeks. But if this team is going to go on another deep playoff run, it’s going to be riding Fangio’s high-flying defense.
“When he makes a call, we all have trust in the call, whatever’s being called, because Vic’s making the call, so we know it’s the right call,” Carter said.
“It’s special just seeing a master at work.”
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