The Birds have hired Vic Fangio to be their next defensive coordinator. There has been some divide amongst the fans and media outlets on whether or not this was the right move for the Philly. Fangio is a well respected coach in the league and has been coaching for 37 years. There wasn’t much of a connection to the team until all of a sudden he and the Dolphins decided to part ways so he could be closer to his hometown in the Scranton, PA area.
Whatever side of the aisle you sit on this, it’s a vast improvement on what we had to witness this past season. His defense in Miami finished 10th in the league with 221.2 yards per game and 3rd in the league in sacks with 56. The Birds only had 43 sacks as a team this season after a whopping 70 a season ago.
The Birds have tried to use the “Fangio tree” as a way of picking their assistant coaches in the past, but after having him as a consultant during last year’s Super Bowl run, they’ve gone to the root of the tree itself. Fangio runs a base 3-4 defense, so we will see how he chooses to operate with the team that GM Howie Roseman assembles.
Coach Nick Sirianni has already stated this week that he will no longer run either the offense or the defense, leaving it up to his coaches to take the wheels fully. Adding onto that, the Birds have also let go of QB coach Alex Tanney. It is truly almost an entirely new look coming into 2024 for the Birds. The only assistant coach remaining on the team is OL coach Jeff Stoutland, and rightfully so.
There is now a growing trend that Kliff Kinsbury could become the Birds next offensive coordinator. There is great optimism as to what Jalen Hurts and company could do under the guidance of Kingsbury. Eric Bieniemy is also a candidate after coaching under Andy Reid for many years and recently, Ron Rivera.