Why defensive mastermind Vic Fangio is primed to instantly make Denver's defense elite

Vic Fangio is elite defense.

In 1979, Fangio got his start in coaching, as a high school linebackers coach. Now, 40 years later, the Denver Broncos are giving Fangio his first shot to be a head coach with the hopes that he will make Denver’s defense elite again.

And that’s precisely what he’s done throughout his 40-year career.

In Fangio’s first stint in the NFL, as the Saints’ linebacker coach in 1986, he created and led the linebacking corps knows as “Dome Patrol.” All four players became stars who racked up 10 First-Team All-Pro awards and 18 trips to the Pro Bowl under Fangio’s guidance.

In Denver, Fangio will be given a diverse linebacking corps, including Todd Davis, Brandon Marshall, Josey Jewell, Keishawn Bierria and Alexander Johnson.

Fangio continued to find success in his next stop — his first as defensive coordinator — with the Panthers. In 1995, Fangio built Carolina’s defense from scratch — literally, it was the organization’s first season in existence.

Despite that, during Fangio’s four years leading the Panthers’ defense, they were the 10th-best scoring defense, only allowing 19.8 points per game, and had the sixth-most takeaways during his tenure.

Fortunately for Fangio, he won’t be starting from scratch in the Mile High City. Instead, he’ll be taking over the league’s 13th-best scoring defense from a year ago and will have future Hall of Famer Von Miller to go along with Chirs Harris Jr. and Bradley Chubb among others.

Not a bad foundation for a defensive genius.

In 2004, his third season with the Texans, Fangio’s unit racked up 22 interceptions, a team record. This exemplifies what a Fangio defense is all about: Making plays.

Not only do Fangio’s units consistently rank atop the NFL in scoring, they typically are among the best in turnovers.

At his next stop with the Ravens, as the special assistant to the head coach, this again held true as Baltimore had the second-most takeaways during his four-year stint with the team. Additionally, his Ravens had the best scoring defense in the league, giving up just 17 points per game in that four-year stretch.

Then, at Stanford, during his one year outside the NFL, Fangio took over the eight-worst defense in the Pac-10 and the 90th-worst defense in the country. Fangio drastically improved Stanford in his one year, making them the best defense in the Pac-10, only allowing 17.4 points per game.

Once he bounced back to the NFL the following year, Fangio made the 49ers’ defense Super Bowl contenders — a place Denver hopes to be under his leadership.

In his four seasons in San Francisco, the 49ers had the second-best scoring defense, allowing just over 17 points per game. Holding true to his formula, his unit also had the fourth-most takeaways during that span.

Unsurprisingly, every season in San Francisco, his defense finished top-10 in scoring.

If that all wasn’t enough evidence, in his most recent stop, as the defensive coordinator of the Bears — his fifth coordinating job in the NFL — he inherited one of the worst defenses in the NFL.

The year before Fangio hopped on board in Chicago, the Bears’ defense was the second-worst scoring defense in the league, giving up 27.6 points per game.

Three years later, in 2017, Fangio made the Bears the ninth-best scoring defense, giving up only 20 pointers per game.

He improved the Bears’ defense by over a touchdown in just three years. After Week 3, the Bears’ defense gave up only 17 touchdowns — the second-best mark in the NFL.

But Fangio didn’t stop there.

The next year, in 2018, Fangio elevated his defense from a top-10 defense to the best in the land, only allowing 17.7 points per game.

In a matter of four years, Fangio took one of the worst defenses in the league and made them the best.

Denver certainly isn’t one of the worst defenses in the league. History says it will only be a matter of time until Denver’s defense is elite again thanks to their new defensive-mastermind head coach.