So far, the Eagles have adopted Vic Fangio’s old-school coaching style originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
There are many ways to describe former NFL defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and his coaching style.
But Jordan Davis explained it succinctly.
“No bulls…” Davis said. “There are no bulls—. I hope you guys can bleep this. But there really is no bullshit. It’s a straight ball.”
Fangio, 65, has been doing this for a long time. A long time. Fangio became a defensive coordinator in the NFL in 1995 – only four of his defensive players on the 2024 Eagles were alive at that time.
All of this means that Fangio is an old school guy, from his adaptations on the field to his opinions on practice. And that seemed to bother some players during his short one-year stint in Miami before taking the vacant D.C. job in Philadelphia this spring.
Although Fangio earlier this month ignored the issue of not getting along with Dolphins players last year, there have been plenty of reports and examples to illustrate that Fangio in Miami was not a good fit.
Heck, last week second-year cornerback Cam Smith said, “I feel like I’m free” after Fangio’s departure. Smith barely played defense in his rookie year as a second-round pick.
And then there was Miami safety Jevon Holland’s explanation for the difference between Fangio and new DC Anthony Weaver. “It’s the fact that he’s a good person that makes the difference,” Holland told NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe.
https://x.com/CameronWolfe/status/1792977013470384497
It seemed like it was just an odd marriage between Fangio and the Dolphins.
But as of May of this year…so far, so good with the Eagles.
“I love Vic, man,” second-year defensive back Jalen Carter said. “Old school. He’s fun to talk to. He’s a good coach.”
Former Georgia players on the Eagles’ defense — and there are a lot of them — spoke about Kirby Smart’s no-nonsense approach in Athens. So they’re all used to it.
“I loved it,” said Nolan Smith. “I come from coaches like that.”
Carter definitely appreciates Fangio’s style.
“I think I love old school football,” Carter said. “If you know Apopka High School, where I’m from, the city of Apopka (Florida). Our culture is old school with everything we’ve done running stadiums and things like that. It was always old school, hard work. I’m ready to be coached any way – old school, new school, whatever you want to call it.”
Of course, training camp is still months away and there are some pretty strict rules regarding on-field activities during voluntary workouts. We’ll see if everyone is still on board when training camp begins at the end of July.
But for now, the Eagles seem to like Fangio. At least they seem willing to be trained by him.
“It’s going to be great, man,” defensive captain Darius Slay said. “If you’re looking, our team is made up of leadership and guys who are always willing to hang out with others. So I think he’s a guy who’s just going to build the team, he comes here with a lot of energy. He’s a guy who’s been in the room with a lot of great vets.
“You have a team full of veterans who have been with a lot of coaches and I don’t think once anyone has said anything bad or negative about a DC because we’ve always tried so hard for him. It doesn’t matter who it is. Because we want to win.”
The Eagles have a new scheme this season under Fangio, but they had already been using Fangio’s staples under Jonathan Gannon and Sean Desai in recent seasons. So there will be a learning curve, but it’s not like everything will look different with Fangio.
And ultimately, players just want a coach who makes them better and helps them win.
If Fangio can do that, all the other things won’t matter as much.
“I’m sure you heard it all the time: He’s old school,” Davis said. “So he doesn’t give a shit. We are running, he waits for us, everyone on the field, he expects us to stay on the field as long as possible. We just know he wants us to be there. And if you’re going to be a player, you’re going to be a guy, you want to be there and you want to play.”
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