Philadelphia Eagles to hire Vic Fangio as new defensive coordinator

Vic Fangio was unemployed for less than 24 hours.

The Philadelphia Eagles are expected to hire the veteran coach as their new defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday.

Fangio became available Wednesday when he and the Miami Dolphins parted ways after just one season, an injury-fraught campaign in which Fangio was only afforded a full defensive deck for a few weeks. With a well-established reputation, Fangio didn’t need to wait long to hear his phone ring with a new opportunity.

The team officially announced the Fangio hiring on Saturday.

It will come in Philadelphia, where Fangio briefly worked as a defensive consultant in 2022 for a D that came incredibly close to resetting the all-time NFL record for sacks in a season, and served as one third of a powerhouse Eagles squad that won the NFC.

The same was not true for the 2023 Eagles, who floundered without Fangio and former defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, leading to a 1-6 finish to the season, capped off by a Super Wild Card Weekend exit (in blowout fashion to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Defensive coordinator Sean Desai was ultimately fired this past Sunday, a move that felt predestined after Desai saw his role on Nick Sirianni’s staff diminished midseason when defensive play-calling duties were given to assistant Matt Patricia.

Fangio’s fit made so much sense, Sirianni was asked about his candidacy during an end-of-season presser on Wednesday, which occurred while news broke that Fangio officially had parted ways with Miami.

Sirianni avoided speaking on Fangio directly, saying the Eagles were working through “a lot of good targets.”

None better than Fangio, the 2018 Assistant Coach of the Year with nearly 30 years of experience as an NFL defensive coordinator and intimate familiarity with the existing staff in Philly. It’s about who you know in this business, and it doesn’t get much easier than that.