For The Win
Everything Vic Fangio touches turns to gold.
The defensive coordinator was the architect of the early 2010s San Francisco 49ers unit that bulldozed its way to three consecutive NFC title game appearances. He was the puppeteer behind the Chicago Bears’ short renaissance only a few years later, with the incomparable Khalil Mack acting as his ultimate game-breaking weapon.
After spending years in and around this chaotic game we call football, the ingenious coaching lifer can finally call himself a Super Bowl champion.
Make no mistake: Fangio was the brilliant maestro behind the Philadelphia Eagles’ relentless defense, which bullied an all-time great like Patrick Mahomes to arguably the worst performance of his career.
No disrespect to Jalen Hurts, but if coaches could win Super Bowl MVP honors, Fangio would’ve undoubtedly been first in line:
With the Super Bowl on the line, Vic Fangio and the Eagles defense limited Patrick Mahomes to the worst game of his career, based on dropback success rate.
The best defense in the NFL was dominant against the best QB in the NFL. And the Eagles are Super Bowl champs.
— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) February 10, 2025
There are three hallmarks every great football coach possesses.
When their players step out of line, these coaches hold them accountable at all costs. They do not relent in their overarching message of responsibility. It is baked into everything they do. We should assume this first step is always taken care.
When their players make a mistake, it is less about focusing on the mistake itself and more about how these coaches use it as a teaching and learning opportunity. If you’re someone like rookie defensive backs Cooper DeJean or Quinyon Mitchell, you’re inevitably going to blow coverages on the back end. If you’re planet-eating defensive lineman Jalen Carter, you’re going to unnecessarily take yourself out of a running lane here and there. If you’re stalwart linebacker Zack Baun, you will whiff and miss a tackle now and then. Mistakes happen. They just do.
But, crucially, they never become a habit.
Most importantly, a great coach trusts their players. They empower them. They tailor their schemes around what they do well. It’s not about fitting a square peg into a round hole. It’s about ensuring the pieces fit together at all costs. They trust them. They let them play loose.
By golly, they put their complete faith in them.
Everywhere Fangio has gone in the NFL, he has embodied these principles.
He holds himself to a high standard — the man was literally grimacing in the booth with a four-score lead and eight minutes left in Sunday’s Super Bowl — and he expects even more from his players as a result.
That, in turn, allows them to reach the most incredible heights — hoisting a Lombardi Trophy with hundreds of millions of people watching at home.
That’s why the Eagles’ defense was able to flex its muscles on the biggest stage in American sports. It...
