Vic Fangio is very different from the label that’s being attached to him

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Old school.

Old school.

Old school.

Old school.

That’s all you hear about Denver’s “new” 60-year-old head coach.

As the saying goes, when the entire NFL zigged by hiring a young, innovative, new-school offensive mastermind, the Broncos zagged by luring in the defensive guru with an old-school mentality.

But as Vic Fangio’s layers have been peeled back in the eight months he’s been on the job, it’s become very clear only one of those two aspects is true about the Broncos’ new man in charge.

And his defensive acumen speaks for itself.

On the surface, everything about Fangio screams old school—from his resting Vic face, to his brutal honesty, to his nickname “The Godfather.”

But looks can be deceiving.

Instead, outside of his cold expression, Victor John Fangio could pass as one of the young up-and-coming coaches hired by all eight other teams seeking a new head coach during the offseason.

Just listen to Emmanuel Sanders.

“I was very active in posting how I was doing [recovering from Achilles surgery in the offseason] on social media,” Emmanuel Sanders said on Tuesday, opening up on his head coach. “It was crazy because Coach Fangio would shoot me texts saying he saw my videos and tell me I’m almost there and sending me words of encouragement all throughout that whole process.”

So what is it, Vic. Snapchat? Instagram? Twitter? In fact, Fangio might not just have social media, he might be so up-to-date with the platforms that he successfully handles a burner account.

“I never had a head coach that texted me that much in terms of his excitement about getting back and telling me that I’m almost there and keep pushing,” Sanders said with excitement.

Remember, this was a man that supposedly never dished out compliments.

It’s certainly not unheard of for a head coach to keep tabs on his players during the offseason. But what makes Fangio unique is he had never coached Sanders during this point in their relationship.

“He told me today, ‘I told [the media] that you were going to be back. That you were going to be ahead of schedule,’” Sanders said on Tuesday, acknowledging that his coach had his back. “That feels good.”

Those conversations “meant a lot” to Sanders, he admitted on Tuesday. Not quite the emotional connection that one would expect coming from a man labeled “The Godfather.”

Along with his emotional intelligence and ability to connect with players a generation or two younger than him, he’s proved his nickname “The Godfather” is too cold for the person he truly is.

In front of the media, Vic is constantly cracking jokes and poking fun at those around him, including himself. When explaining why he wears a crewneck sweatshirt in the 100-degree heat of camp is because he doesn’t really think it’s that hot compared to other cities he’s lived, he added, “Half the reason I got this on is to hide my gut.”

Additionally, the 60-year old is a wise storyteller, often opening up with intricate stories about his past or the rich history of the NFL. He does all of this while connecting with his players, coaches, media and fans on a personal level.

This was on display minutes before Tuesday’s practice when Fangio recruited Von Miller and Bradley Chubb to lead the fans in the slow clap to open up practice.

“He actually asked me because I was going to play catch with my coach, but he was like, ‘Bradley, come on, come do it with us,’” Bradley Chubb said, explaining the light-hearted moment before practice with his coach. “We did it together. It was pretty cool.”

Standing in-between two 250-pound human muscles, the much shorter and less ripped—no offense, Vic—coach pumped up the crowd despite being out of sync with his two pass rushers.

An old-school coach would have fallen sick to the thought of having such a fun time. But what an old-school approach would have certainly allowed is the team to continue their tradition of rookie haircuts.

Vic, however, wanted no such thing to exist on his watch.

“I just don’t think it’s right,” Fangio promptly stated, explaining his decision to not allow veteran players to cut the rookie’s hair in embarrassing fashion.

“I just don’t believe in hazing. There are traditions that stay put—guys are getting in front of the team and doing a little skit every night. Maybe a rookie is carrying somebody’s pads off the field and so on—bring in the donuts and breakfast. Nothing physical.”

As one would expect, this decision was not greeted favorably by the veterans, many of whom have gone through this process themselves before.

“Oh, I’m upset about that. He knows. He knows,” Sanders jokingly said after practice.

But in all seriousness, the veterans accepted Fangio’s decision because of the relationship he’s built with them in the offseason and start of training camp.

“I respect Vic. I love, I love that guy, man,” Sanders said with emotion. “Just how he comes into meetings and breaks down situational football and how much he cares about his players and how he goes about coaching and everything. It’s awesome to see. If that’s how he wants it to go, that’s how it is.”

Vic’s certainly earned Godfather-type of respect, just through drastically different ways.

While his personality might not be as old school as the country was led to believe, his approach to the field certainly is, right?

Nope.

“I like analytics,” he said during training camp, squashing any belief that one of the oldest coaches in the league won’t turn to new ways of attacking the game.

As Vic becomes the spotlight of the country on Monday Night Football across from Jon Gruden on Sept. 9, he’ll be tagged with many labels as he commands the sidelines in Orange & Blue.

The one label that shouldn’t be placed on him is “old school.”