Report: Eagles ‘expected’ to hire Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator

It may have taken a year longer than they’d hoped, but the Eagles have a chance to hire Vic Fangio as their defensive coordinator.

According to an ESPN report, Fangio is “expected” to join the Eagles’ staff after getting out of his contract with the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday. The Dolphins announced the veteran coach’s departure in a statement from Miami coach Mike McDaniel, calling the move “the best path forward for all parties involved.”

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and general manager Howie Roseman did not confirm the initial report that Fangio is their “top target” when asked during a news conference. Sirianni said the interview process was still ongoing.

“We’ve got a lot of good targets that we’re working through,” Sirianni said. “There’s a lot of guys that have done really well in their interview process. I look forward to continuing on that process. We’ll see what happens.”

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Fangio, a native of Dunmore, Lackawanna County, who went to East Stroudsburg, is the author of the en vogue scheme that several defenses, including the Eagles, have implemented over the last few seasons. The 65-year-old spent the 2022-23 postseason on the Eagles coaching staff as a consultant to the offense and had an influence on the team’s last two defensive coordinators, mentoring Sean Desai during their shared time with the Chicago Bears and serving as part of the inspiration for Jonathan Gannon’s system before that.

Gannon left for the Arizona Cardinals’ head-coaching job last February after Fangio already accepted the gig as defensive coordinator with the Dolphins, but the Eagles still valued the longtime coach’s system enough to hire Desai last February in part because of his familiarity with it.

Under Fangio this season, Miami’s defense ranked 10th in points allowed and 19th in defense-adjusted value over average, which measures efficiency with strength of opponent factored in. Since 1995, he has spent 20 seasons as a defensive coordinator for six teams and three as the Denver Broncos’ head coach. During that time, his defenses have ranked in the top 10 in yards allowed and scoring defense 10 times each.

Fangio’s defensive structure is centered on zone coverages with two deep safeties and finding ways to stop the run out of light boxes. His system aligns well with Sirianni’s philosophy of limiting explosive plays by deploying zone coverages with two deep safeties taking away vertical routes as well.

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If the deal is finalized, Fangio would take over an Eagles defense that ranked among the league’s worst this season. The group finished 26th in yards allowed, 30th in scoring offense, and 31st in third-down defense.

Those struggles led to Sirianni stripping Desai of play-calling duties late into the year and appointing senior defensive assistant Matt Patricia as the defensive czar during an unprecedented collapse by the team. The move backfired and led to the Eagles resetting on the defensive side this offseason, with Sirianni firing Desai and Patricia moving on once his one-year contract expired.

Roseman said Wednesday he did not play a role in the switch from Desai to Patricia.

“I trust him with the coaching staff,” Roseman said of Sirianni. “That’s his responsibility just like he trusts me with my front office staff. That’s how we’re structured here, that’s how the relationship works. And I always want to be supportive for him and a resource — if he needs me to do something, if he asks me questions, if he asks me an opinion. In a situation like this, he had made up his mind. He had made a decision and I’m going to support him.”

It wasn’t all coaching, though. The Eagles lost a handful of key contributors last offseason and Roseman had spotty results reinforcing each level of the defense. He signed the veteran cornerback duo of Darius Slay and James Bradberry to multiyear contracts and went into the season thin at linebacker and safety. Bradberry’s play regressed sharply this season, and injuries to the linebacker and safety spots left the team searching for viable starters well into the season.

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Roseman took accountability for his role in the defensive struggles, acknowledging the challenges he faced last offseason to rebuild the group that ranked No. 3 in DVOA.

“I knew that it would probably be easier to get the offense to a place quicker than it was the defense,” Roseman said. “And you never want to be just kind of in the middle of the pack in both. I feel like a lot of the things we tried to do last offseason was trying to keep our priorities intact in how we like to build a team. ... I accept responsibility for whatever we have to do to make sure, when the season falls short and not playing this week and beyond that, I’m certainly responsible for that.”