Vic Fangio is Eagles’ top target for defensive coordinator after his departure from Miami

Right as the Eagles end of year press conference was getting started, new broke that the all powerful Vic Fangio was parting ways with Miami, and that all signs are pointing towards a reunion in Philly.

Vic Fangio to the rescue

The Dolphins and Vic Fangio have mutually agreed to part ways, sources tell me and @JFowlerESPN. Fangio now will be the top target for the Philadelphia Eagles to hire as their defensive coordinator, and a deal is expected. Miami is allowing Fangio to leave to be closer to his… pic.twitter.com/HjyMAC2S0p

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 24, 2024

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Fangio worked with the Eagles as a defensive consultant through parts of 2021 and all of the 2022 season. The team wanted to promote him to defensive coordinator following the departure of Jonathan Gannon, but unfortunately, Miami swooped in and snatched him before Philly had a chance.

The Eagles have been trying to replicate the Vic Fangio defense for years now. Gannon came from the Fangio tree, as did Sean Desai. Obviously, neither of them were truly capable of duplicating Fangio’s scheme to a tee. It’s no coincidence that the best defensive season under Nick Sirianni was the year Fangio was in the building full time.

If you wanted wholesale changes to the type of defense the Eagles have been running for the past three seasons, unfortunately, this hire won’t do it for you. The good news is, Fangio is legitimately one of the smartest defensive minds in football today. Just because the Eagles defense played like shit under Desai and at times under Gannon, that doesn’t necessarily mean the scheme is broken. More than likely, it just means Desai and Gannon weren’t savvy enough to truly run it effectively.

If/when Vic Fangio is announced as the next Eagles defensive coordinator, it’ll be very interesting to see how Howie Roseman starts addressing personal on that side of the ball. With the pedigree of Fangio, I have to imagine he’ll have some sort of say in the types of players he’ll be coaching. Keep an eye on some of the pending defensive free agents from Miami – who all played some of their best football under Fangio in 2023:

• LB Jerome Baker
• OLB Andrew Van Ginkel
• S DeShon Elliott
• S Brandon Jones

Although the offseason is still young and there are a lot of moves to be made, hiring Fangio would certainly be a step in the right direction.