Dolphins defensive coordinator search: 5 things to know about Vic Fangio

Nine of his defenses finished among the NFL’s top 10.

Ten of his defenses made the top 10 in fewest points allowed.

Twice he led the toughest run defense in the league.

And more than once the Dolphins have cast their eyes his way.

Will this be the time that flirtation with veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio brings him to Miami?

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Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is weighing his options for defensive coordinator now that Josh Boyer is out. Fangio is one possibility, as is Sean Desai, a protege of Fangio’s and current associate head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. So too Anthony Campanile, who coaches Miami's linebackers.

Here are five things to know about Fangio, 64:

A glimpse into Fangio’s defensive system

Fangio is sitting out this season. On sabbatical, he told The Washington Post in November.

That doesn’t mean he’s disconnected from the game. Far from it. Fangio turned his kitchen table into his office where he reviews tape of countless NFL games, taking notes.

Fangio’s system “is predicated on disguise, with a signature two-high safety look that can transform into almost any coverage,” Nicki Jhabvala wrote in The Post. “Presnap movement is followed by post-snap movement, and, if executed properly, the front should hide clues about the final picture.”

Fangio explained that it’s to keep quarterbacks guessing.

It’s not difficult to plug in that philosophy in Miami and envision the possibilities. Think about turning Jevon Holland loose in a system in which Justin Simmons thrived to the tune of a $15.25 million-per-year contract in Denver in 2021, the highest of any safety in the league.

Think about Brandon Jones, hopefully healthy again, running his safety blitzes.

And think about linebacker Bradley Chubb reuniting with a coordinator he played under in Denver.

Harbaugh, Fangio shared respect … until that day they didn’t

The Baltimore Ravens will be on the Dolphins’ 2023 schedule, probably because the Baltimore Ravens always find their way onto the Dolphins’ schedule. Some say they have secretly joined the AFC East, but NFL sources would not confirm this.

Anyway, if Fangio is running Miami’s defense, it sets up an interesting dynamic.

Brian Billick hired Fangio as an assistant in Baltimore in 2006. Even after the Ravens parted with Billick and promoted John Harbaugh in 2009, Fangio stuck around to coach Ravens linebackers.

“Just a brilliant coach,” Harbaugh told Pro Football Weekly in 2019.

Things took a turn in October 2021 when Fangio was head coach of a Broncos team that lost 23-7 to the Ravens. That was the game in which the Ravens had 97 rushing yards with three seconds left. Rather than take a knee, they had Lamar Jackson run for 5 yards, thus extending their streak to 43 games with at least 100 rushing yards, tying an NFL record.

Fangio was hot.

“I thought it was kind of BS but I expected it from them,” he said. “Thirty-seven years in pro ball, I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Expected it?

“Because I just know how they operate,” Fangio said. “That’s just their mode of operation there. Player safety is secondary.”

Harbaugh was having none of it.

“I promise you, I’m not going to give that insult one second thought,” Harbaugh said. “What’s meaningful to us might not be meaningful to them. Their concerns are definitely not our concerns. We didn’t expect to get the ball back. But we decided if we got the ball back we were going to try to get the yards. We got it back with three seconds left."

Harbaugh then turned his attention to the Broncos' final possession.

“You’re throwing the ball in the end zone with 10 seconds left," he said. "I don’t know if there’s a 16-point touchdown that’s going to be possible right there. So that didn’t have anything to do with winning the game.”

You don’t mess around with Vic

Coaches talk all the time about how they want their players to be tough.

Sometimes, coaches have to be tough.

Fangio made his debut as Broncos head coach in August 2019 at the Hall of Fame Game. What’s notable about that is earlier in the day, he was in the hospital dealing with a kidney stone. It did not pass, but he still had a game — albeit an exhibition game — to coach.

Maybe the Broncos weren’t surprised. A few months earlier, a skirmish broke out at minicamp even though Fangio made it clear he would not tolerate such nonsense.

So when defensive lineman DeShawn Williams and offensive lineman Don Barclay started to go all WWE, in jumped 60-year-old Fangio playing the role of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Fangio — 60-year-old Vic Fangio — grabbed Williams by the pads and drove him back about 10 yards.

“He was low, had leverage, hands inside, nice and tight with feet driving,” Williams joked to The Denver Post. “It was like he was an offensive lineman out there.”

He’s old school. Got a problem with that?

Fangio began his coaching career at his alma mater, Dunmore (Pa.) High, as linebackers coach in 1979. If things went according to plan, he’d still be there.

But isn’t being the NFL as good as it gets?

“Well, sure,” Fangio once told the Chicago Daily Herald. “(But) it wasn’t my ultimate dream. My ultimate dream when I got into coaching was to be a high school head coach and live happily ever after.”

When the New Orleans Saints called in 1986, it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, thus beginning an NFL career spanning five decades. As you may have guessed, a coach around that long is old school.

Take the time Fangio was on the staff of the Colts when a 23-year-old quarterback named Peyton Manning whined about the defense holding receivers in practice.

“Vic put a plate of wine and cheese in my locker,” Manning once told the Colorado Springs Gazette. “He didn’t say it was him. But I knew it was him.”

Want another old-school example? Try the Dolphins’ flirtation with him in 2019, when Fangio was the Bears’ defensive coordinator. Problem was, the Bears had a big game coming up against the Philadelphia Eagles. At least to Fangio it was a big game, because they all are.

“I have not returned one phone call,” Fangio said of the Dolphins and Broncos and whoever else was clogging up his voicemail.

Past Dolphins coaches had great respect for Fangio

Fangio has long had respect inside the Dolphins’ building.

In 2018, then-Dolphins coach Adam Gase was preparing to face Chicago and Fangio after they spent a season on the same Bears staff. Gase said it’s “very tough” to line up against Fangio defenses because he always comes in with a good game plan.

“If you give him a good group of players, he’s going to make them that much better because he’s a good on-the-field coach and then he calls the game really well,” Gase said.

Two years later, it was Brian Flores matching wits with Fangio and the Broncos.

“Vic Fangio is one of the top defensive minds in the game,” Flores said.

For the record, the Dolphins split those two games, beating the Bears 31-28 in overtime but losing in Denver 20-13.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter @gunnerhal.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Dolphins defensive coordinator search: 5 things to know on Vic Fangio