Vic Fangio held his first press conference as the Eagles defensive coordinator, and had a lot to say about choosing Philly, specific players, and a whole lot more.
The Eagles offseason program is chugging along, and we finally got a chance to hear from new defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, since the veteran coach was hired. The new DC talked about why he chose to come back to Philly, why he wants the scheme to be versatile, what he thinks of the offseason workload, and talked about specific players — like Quinyon Mitchell, Jalen Carter, and Bryce Huff.
Here’s what the DC had to say:
Fangio was asked why he wanted to come to Philly after the 2023 season, and he explained that he started his pro coaching career across the street at Veterans Stadium and he thought it would be cool to, hopefully, end his career here, too.
“I was a big Philly fan growing up in all sports. It was a thrill for me to go to work every day at Veterans Stadium 40 years ago because I used to go to games there all the time. And now it’s a good thrill to come back 40 years later and hopefully finish it out here.”
Fangio noted that his kids live two hours from Philly, and his Mother is close, so there were also family considerations in play when he decided to join the Eagles’ staff.
He later acknowledged that he hopes that this is the last stop in his career, but also pointed out that in the NFL, nothing is guaranteed.
The new DC was asked about consulting with the Eagles a couple years ago, and explained that it was mostly with the offense and giving pre-looks against their upcoming opponents. However, he said that it wasn’t very often, and definitely wasn’t every week.
There’s been a lot of speculation that Fangio was supposed to be the Eagles defensive coordinator once Jonathan Gannon moved on as a head coach, but the timing didn’t work out. Fangio loosely confirmed as much on Thursday.
“REPORTER: Would you have been here if the timeline of defensive coordinator openings was different last year?
FANGIO: I think that’s a fair assumption.”
On the defensive scheme
Fangio said that the most important part of his scheme is having good players. They have a system they consider versatile, which is important because they’ll face different teams and different offensive schemes throughout the season.
“You have to have a versatile system for the offenses today in the NFL. What we’ll eventually do is learn what our guys are best at.
I like to throw a lot at them early because I think one of the worst things you can do is come Week 3, Week 5, ‘Man, we could really use this scheme,’ but it hadn’t been introduced to the players yet. Whereas if you introduced it to them in training camp and worked on it, when you pull it back out three, four weeks later, there’s recall.
We’ll throw a lot at them in training camp to see what best fits for them, what they’re good at, and then try and whittle it down, but always keeping some stuff in the bank in case we need it at some point during the season.”
On offseason work load
Fangio was asked how players have changed since the beginning of his career 40 years, but he said that they aren’t the ones that have changed. He explained that players are willing to work hard, just like they always have, but the people around players have lowered their expectations and requirements of players.
“These players will work and give you everything they’ve got within reason. It starts at an early age, when they’re in high school, college, everybody — less-is-more type of thing, preserve your energy. You guys here in the NBA, load management. I’ve talked to coaches from other sports that I know, and it drives them crazy. The players are willing to work. Never had an issue with that. And they’re still willing to work. But we, as the so-called adults in the room, need to push them.”
The DC was later asked about the Eagles offseason program and how he felt about head coach Nick Sirianni’s approach — more walkthroughs, fewer live reps —, and Fangio said they’ll make do with what they’ve got, but admitted he’s pushing for more. On whether Fangio pushed for more practices before joining the staff, he pointed to Sirianni to answer.
On specific players
QUINYON MITCHELL
“[Mitchell]’s obviously got good movement. He’s got good size for a corner. He’s going to have to adapt to the NFL game, covering NFL receivers, NFL schemes in the passing game. There’s a lot to learn. We think he’s the right guy emotionally and mentally to do that. Hopefully he’ll pay dividends quickly rather than later. But he’s going to be one of the many competing.”
JALEN CARTER
“I think [Carter]’s talented enough that no matter what we do with him, we’ll be maximizing him. He’s got to get in great shape, which I think he’s off to a great start here, so we can play him a lot.”
JORDAN DAVIS
“I think [Davis is] working good. I think he’s rounding into good shape. It’s up to us to give him the opportunity and platform to get in good shape, and then rely on him when he leaves here and that dead time between the offseason and camp. From what I’ve seen so far, very encouraging.”
BRYCE HUFF
“[Huff]’s been a good pass rusher for the Jets playing in somewhat of a part time role. Hopefully we can make him proficient enough to where he plays more, meaning his run play and on the occasion or two that we might want to drop him.”
Other notables
- Fangio worked with former Eagles’ DC Sean Desai for awhile, and when asked about Desai’s time in Philly, he said he doesn’t really know what happened, but when things go bad, it’s usually due to multiple things or people.
- He admitted that it’ll be a challenge for Eagles players who have had four different DC’s and several different position coaches over the past few seasons, but Fangio hopes they’ll have enough time between the offseason and training camp to help them acclimate.
- In terms of his priority with the defense, Fangio said that limiting explosive plays and getting after the QB are both high on the list, but acknowledged that not letting the other team score is the highest priority.
- Fangio succinctly noted that the edge rushers will drop back in coverage “occasionally.”
- He went through the list of guys he would consider inside linebackers, and said that they don’t exactly have anyone established at that position, but they have guys to work with and are ultimately happy with the group so far.
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