How Vic Fangio stacks up to John Elway’s checklist

As the Broncos embark on their search for the next head coach, they will interview five different candidates for the job. On the day of each interview, we will grade that candidate based on the qualities John Elway is looking for. These are the interviews that have already taken place.

Wednesday: Chuck Pagano

Thursday: Zac Taylor

Friday: Mike Munchak

Saturday: Brian Flores

Monday: Vic Fangio

VIC FANGIO

OVERVIEW

In 1979, Vic Fangio began his coaching career as a linebacker coach at his alma mater. At Dunmore High School in his hometown of Dunmore, Pennsylvania, that is.

After making his way up through the ranks — with stops at a preparatory school in Connecticut, North Carolina and the United States Football League — Fangio entered the NFL in 1986 with the Saints in the same position he began his coaching career, coaching linebackers, where he found unprecedented success (see below).

Fangio then took his first NFL defensive coordinator position with the Carolina Panthers in 1995.

For the next 11 seasons, Fangio was the defensive coordinator of the Panthers, Colts and Texans before becoming the special assistant to the head coach with the Ravens in 2006. He then added linebackers coach to his title in 2009.

Fangio left the NFL for one year in 2010 to be the defensive coordinator at Stanford, taking them from one of the worst defenses in the Pac-10 to the No. 1 scoring defense in his lone year with the program.

He quickly jumped back into the NFL, joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff in San Francisco as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator for four seasons.

Finally, in 2015, the 60-year-old coach took the position he still currently holds, defensive coordinator of the Bears.

Fangio found a tremendous amount of success in his six different stops as defensive coordinator, but a staple of nearly all of them was their play-making abilities.

He is widely regarded as one of the best and experienced defensive minds in the game. Fangio is the Broncos’ final interview of the initial group of five candidates.

EVALUATION

John Elway identified four traits he is looking for in his next head coach. Here is how Fangio stacks up.

Greatness in their expertise: A+

In Fangio’s first stint in the NFL as the Saints’ linebacker coach, he directly coached a linebacking corps that included four All Pro’s — Sam Mills, Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling and Vaughan Johnson — that was deemed one of, if not the, greatest linebacking corps of all time, picking up the nickname “Dome Patrol.”

Fangio coached this group from their conception in 1986 through 1994. Between 1986 and 1992, Fangio’s linebackers racked up 10 First-Team All-Pro awards and 18 trips to the Pro Bowl.

In 2015, Fangio inherited the league’s second-worst defense in terms of points allowed the year before in Chicago. By 2017, the Bears’ defense finished as a top-10 scoring defense before becoming the No. 1 scoring defense in 2018 under Fangio.

As the 49ers’ defensive coordinator for four seasons, Fangio led San Francisco to the second-best scoring defense during that entire stretch, only giving up 17.4 points per game, while ranking in the top ten in each individual season as well.

That’s just a taste of the excellent production Fangio’s had in his storied NFL career.

Experience: A

Fangio has 32 years of NFL experience, including a whopping 19 seasons as a defensive coordinator with five different NFL organizations.

‘Nuff’ said.

Ability to lead men: A

As a defensive coordinator, it’s pretty clear Fangio is able to rally his players successfully from the moment he arrives until the moment he departs.

The “it” factor: ?

One question does need to be raised: With all of this success Fangio has had as a defensive coordinator, why hasn’t he landed a head coaching job before?

Last offseason, he interviewed for the Bears’ vacant head coach position, but Chicago ultimately went with Matt Nagy instead. Chicago did, however, immediately re-sign Fangio as defensive coordinator, proving they were confident in his abilities in that role.

Potentially, teams didn’t believe he had the “it” factor needed to be the head man. John Elway will get to make that determination himself on Monday.