Following a whirlwind few weeks of rumors, speculation, worry and reassurance, defensive mastermind Vic Fangio is a Miami Dolphins coach. Officially announced, yet again, at the end of last week, the Dolphins start this week on Monday with the aqua-carpet rollout of Fangio’s introduction to South Florida media.
Although already seen in Dolphin threads following an interview with Travis Wingfield last week, Fangio was publicly unveiled today in a live-streaming event that may have rivaled past social media phenomena seen by Miami fan bases across multiple sports.
He enters with plenty of defensive talent, as well as numerous decisions to make as well as needs in certain areas. Fangio told Wingfield that he likes to “wipe the slate clean,” when he was asked about evaluating current Dolphins for his system and schemes. He said, “I don’t really like to watch too much of what they’ve done in the past.”
Fangio added, “I like to get out there and work with them and form my own opinions, without being influenced by what may have happened in the past.”
When the conversation moved into a mention of free agency and that type of evaluation, Fangio mentioned, “obviously if we have a free agent that we’re thinking about, you know, signing one of our current players whose contract is up, you know, that Chris [Grier] and management want my opinion, I’ll look at ’em.”
Fangio re-iterated, “I like to give everybody a clean slate and form my own opinion.”
When Wingfield and Fangio discussed the construction of the defensive staff, Fangio said Miami is looking for “good teachers.” He said that his coaches will be expected to teach players “from an assignment and a technique standpoint.”
“It’s teacher first and foremost,” Fangio said strongly.
In fact, prior to Fangio taking the Miami podium, it was reported that one of his former coaching students, Renaldo Hill, will be joining him in South Florida. Actually, it is also another reunion for Hill, as he once again will man the Miami sidelines, as he was an assistant defensive backs coach in 2018. He went to Denver and then head coach, Fangio, from 2019-2020. Hill was the Los Angeles Chargers Defensive Coordinator the last two seasons.
Hill also was a Dolphin safety from 2006-2008, and had a 10-year career as a player. Hill was drafted by Arizona in the seventh round in 2001 and played there for four seasons until a year stop in Oakland with the Raiders before settling in Miami as a starter. He played for the Broncos in his final two seasons as a player from 2009-2010 and finished his career with 607 tackles, 19 interceptions, and 61 passes defended.
Back to Fangio, the veteran coach, and now very much the official defensive coordinator of the Dolphins, was on a self-described “sabbatical” in 2022, having spent the previous three seasons as head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2019-2021.
There was his recent consultancy gig with the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles on their Super Bowl run, but overall, 2022 was for rest and re-loading his football knowledge. Fangio even said how even while on his break, he was still working in a sense.
A few days following that Friday sit down last week, Fangio stood up in front of Miami and South Florida media Monday afternoon for another officially, official introduction.
Head Coach Mike McDaniel introduced the new coordinator saying, “you don’t have a sustaining career for longer than I’ve been alive really, like Vic has, without that fearless chase of continuing to evolve, and get better, and be the best version of yourself as you age with grace.”
He kept his appearance rather short, saying, “so without further ado, Vic Fangio, the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins.”
Fangio was all smiles and welcomed questions from the get go.
When asked what made Miami the right fit he said, “well, I think the Dolphins have a good thing going here. I like Mike (McDaniel) and his staff that he already has in place here.”
He added, “I think there’s good components to the coaching staff, led by Mike, that made it intriguing to join that. I think there’s a good nucleus of players here. And the allure of South Florida.”
Of those players, several were mentioned including his former player in Denver, Bradley Chubb as well as a pair of rising stars in Miami in Jaelan Phillips and Jevon Holland.
Fangio also detailed his affinity for Christian Wilkins saying, “Christian Wilkins is here, another guy I liked in the draft. Christian’s greatest honor, is the Bill Campbell Award trophy, which is the ‘Academic Heisman.’ Bill Campbell was a good friend of mine. So when I see him, I always think of that.”
This bodes well for those hoping and praying Christian is a Dolphin for the longevity of his career, with hopes of a long-term contract extension.
Back to Chubb, Fangio realized there were injuries that were overcome from his Bronco days, but as for their reunion in Miami he said, “I’m anxious to get him rolling, keep him healthy and see the Bradley Chubb that we all know he’s capable of being.”
It is Chubb and the aforementioned Phillps who will be pass-rushers and when asked about the blitzing of the unit as a whole, Fangio joked, yet with deadly serious tone, “as needed and when I want to.”
Laughter burst through the media room.
Fangio also detailed that while on his college professor like sabattical, he wasn’t away from the game. “Well, I set up shop – I lived in Destin, Florida, up on the panhandle, and I had a computer that I was able to VPN into and it was just like if I was in an office, an NFL office.”
He continued by saying, “I had exposure to everything that any NFL coach had at that time. And wherever I went, I would tune in and do my – not every day, but most every day – spent a few hours watching tape and doing these different types of studies like third down, red zone, formational studies against offensive personnel.”
He reiterated what he told Wingfield last week, which was that he “studied a lot of different situations and facets of the game, and it was very, very good for me, and I’ve already come up with a new coverage or two that I’m anxious to try out.”
“It was time off, but I used it well,” Fangio confidently told Travis.
As for the media on Monday, Fangio closed the presser with a game winning drive. He said, “obviously when you think about the Dolphins, you think about Don Shula, Dan Marino, the heyday in the 70s, the 17-0 season.”
He concluded with, “I think the Dolphins are one of those franchises that the NFL is a better league when the Dolphins are relevant and in the hunt and hopefully we can get it back to that.”
Welcome to Miami, coach.
Officially.
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