Don’t fall for the myth of Vic Fangio’s defensive legacy
Jul 9, 2021, 12:00 AM
The Denver Broncos hired Vic Fangio because of his ability to coach the defense. As the league keeps getting younger and more offensively driven, the Broncos went in the opposite direction
So, Fangio, a first-time head coach in his 60s, must be some sort of defensive guru, right?
Wrong. His defensive legacy is mostly a myth.
Fangio is a good defensive coordinator. You could even say really good. Great? Not even close.
This man has never coached an all-time great defense. His units in Chicago and San Francisco were darn good, but were they great? Not really.
Fangio’s never coached a defense as good as Denver’s in 2015, so why did Broncos Country anoint this man as a defensive genius?
In Fangio’s time as the Broncos head coach, his defenses have given up game-winning drives to quarterbacks like Gardner Minshew, Jacoby Brissett and Mitchell Trubisky.
You know what all those quarterbacks have in common? None of them are NFL starters.
Sorry, a “defensive guru” doesn’t give up game-winning drives to those types of quarterbacks.
So, while Fangio is a good defensive-minded coach, he’s not a legend or a guru. He’s just a pretty good defensive coordinator who can coach a pretty good defense when given the talent.
He’s not even close to the best defensive coach in Broncos history.
