Will Vic Fangio return to the NFC West as 49ers defensive coordinator?
Let the Drew Lock torment continue? Seaside Joe 1428
Reports emerged over the weekend that Vic Fangio would become the next defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins after taking a one-year hiatus following his firing from the Denver Broncos as head coach. But Mike Silver said not so fast, reporting on Monday that Fangio told him directly on Sunday night that no decision has been made.
Normally, I like to hate on Mike Silver, and surely we can find an opportunity to do that at some point this morning. But to just directly quote Fangio and not a source, this feels real. Silver is plugged into the San Francisco 49ers and made a point to say that after DeMeco Ryans leaves for the Houston Texans—the expectation any minute now—that they will have an opening for a defensive coordinator.
Is this Fangio’s 49ers 2.0?
I was going to write something else this morning but I want my thoughts on the upcoming 2023 QB carousel to marinate for a little while longer because it’s becoming hack for these other Seahawks writers to keep circling around Geno Smith—positively or negatively and most of it is negative.
So instead, let’s talk a little bit about Fangio and then perhaps I’ll have time for a bonus article later. If you didn’t read yesterday’s bonus on Abe Lucas, I highly recommend it… look at that, a Seahawks writer talking about an offensive tackle instead of the quarterback! It’s only $5/month to subscribe and if you break that down to how many times Seaside Joe posts a month, it’s like .10 cents for every post.
Vic Fangio became public enemy #2 among coaches for Seahawks fans in the 2011-2014 49ers era, behind only Jim Harbaugh. Fangio’s defense didn’t have a perfectly clean record against Seattle, including that 42-13 statement in 2013, but the Niners had plenty of defensive wins in that era. Here are the point totals for each Fangio vs. Pete Carroll game:
17, 17, 6, 42, 29, 17, 23, 19, 17
Takeaway that Sunday Night Football game and this is a stellar streak against one of the NFL’s elite teams—if not the best team—of the era.
San Francisco featured defensive stars like Aldon Smith, Justin Smith, NaVorro Bowman, Patrick Willis, Donte Whitner, Dashon Goldson, Ahmad Brooks, and Eric Reid when they were at their peak. But then the only Pro Bowler on defense by 2014 was safety Antoine Bethea, as injuries and aging out of the league took its toll on Harbaugh leading to his firing, as well as Greg Roman (fired by the Baltimore Ravens this month) and Fangio.
*Other people will sometimes write “mutual parting” which is only something I would repeat as meaningful if I was a stupid person who didn’t understand what it means to be fired; mutual parting doesn’t even mean you weren’t fired, it just means you were pleasant enough that they don’t want your name attached to “fired” as you’re being fired
Fangio moved from San Francisco to Chicago in 2015, which is where he first teamed up with defensive quality control coach Sean Desai—his successor and presently still on the Seahawks—and Ed Donatell, a former assistant with Pete on the early 90s Jets.
Clint Hurtt was also promoted by Fangio from asisstant defensive line coach to outside linebackers coach in 2015, leaving for Seattle in 2017. The report is that Hurtt’s contract expired and he decided to leave, so I won’t quite say that he was fired or that he mutually parted. Going from the Bears to the Seahawks in 2017 was no doubt an upgrade.
Fangio’s impressive work in Chicago was taking a defense that ranked 31st in points and 30th in yards allowed the year before he arrived to going 20th/14th, 24th/15th, 9th/10th, and then 1st/3rd by 2018. His assistants in 2018 included Desai, Donatell, and current Chargers head coach Brandon Staley. His players that year included Khalil Mack, Eddie Jackson, Roquan Smith, Kyle Fuller, Akiem Hicks, Leonard Floyd, Eddie Goldman, Danny Trevathan, and Adrian Amos.