NEW ORLEANS — He has been this close to the Lombardi Trophy once, and now, in the twilight of an admirable football life, Vic Fangio is this close to it again.
A long and winding road that began in 1979 as linebackers coach at Dunmore (Pa.) High School, that included stops in college and the USFL and on nine NFL teams, makes a stop inside the Superdome, when Fangio, 66 years young, reaches again for that elusive Super Bowl ring.
All he has to do, as Eagles defensive coordinator, is prevent Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs from an historic three-peat.
Fangio couldn’t beat Mahomes during his three seasons as Broncos head coach, is 0-8 against him overall, and yet no one in and around the Eagles is losing any sleep over it.
Fangio is the godsend who has orchestrated the league’s No. 1 defense in his first season under Nick Sirianni.
“I’m sure that everybody’s had that old-school kinda coach that doesn’t put up with anything other than being physical, being smart, and being fast, and he’s one of those guys, and that’s what we kinda bought into,” safety Reed Blankenship said. “At the end of the day, he knows he can coach us hard and we’re gonna play hard for him.”
Fangio’s old-school style wasn’t received well in Miami last season, but he has been welcomed with open arms by the young Eagles defenders.
“He wants your best from you every game, every snap, and I love that, I love that about coaches,” the emerging Nolan Smith said.
Talk about tough love.
“He calls everybody out,” Smith said. “Everybody gets demanded to do more, or if you’re slacking off on this play, he’s gonna let you know.”
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: Eagles defenders like to do imitations of Fangio.
“He’s old and grumpy,” Josh Sweat said, “but I can tell he’s deep down having a great time, so we gotta finish it. And we got something in common — we both lost one [laugh].”
Fangio lost the 2013 Super Bowl to the Ravens when he was Jim Harbaugh’s DC in San Francisco.
Fangio versus Mahomes and Andy Reid is grandmaster chess.
“We gotta be able to defend when he starts scrambling,” Fangio said. “Hopefully, we can keep him in there enough.”
Fangio’s wealth of knowledge and experience makes him a dangerous foe.
“He’s a hard-nosed guy,” Zack Baun said. “He shoots it straight and he lets you know if you’re right or if you’re wrong — mostly if you’re wrong. But I’ve been able to learn a lot from him, schematically as a player, attention to detail. It’s been really cool to work with Vic.”
Mahomes is expecting the unexpected from Fangio, as well he should.
“You want to go up against the best,” Mahomes said, “and he’s one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL.”
Fangio adapts to his players as well as any defensive coordinator. How well he adapts to Mahomes will go a long way in determining whether there will be a three-peat.
