Vic Fangio said something truly enlightened during his introductory news conference.
Fangio, the Dolphins’ new defensive coordinator, the man who just spent a year away from the NFL, much of it living in the Panhandle town of Destin, said last Monday he’d let his talent dictate his system.
That simple, yet attention-getting phrase came in the context of Fangio saying he has a couple of new defensive ideas he’d like to try in training camp.
“But what’s going to be most important,” he said, “is tailoring what we do to our players, and to the opponent that we’re playing for that week.”
Fangio, the former Denver head coach (2019-21), Chicago defensive coordinator (2015-18) and San Francisco defensive coordinator (2011-14), among other jobs in his impressive 40-year NFL career, went on to say there might be things he did at previous stops that he won’t do here because it doesn’t fit the Dolphins’ personnel.
And he said there might be things he does with the Dolphins that he didn’t do at other places because it fits the Dolphins’ personnel better.
“You might think it’d be great to do something because it fits a certain player really good,” he said, “but you really have to think about how it fits all 11, and what’s the best way to stop somebody from scoring too many points.”
That was just one of the reality-based statements Fangio made.
He said edge rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips have talent and potential, but you still need to see results on the field.
“Talking about it is easy, projecting it as easy, but we’ve got to see it,” said Fangio, who spoke well of Chubb after having coached him in Denver.
Fangio said players will dictate playing time by their performance.
He said when you improve a player, you improve their position group, and when you improve their position group you improve the defense.
It all seems like very basic stuff, but it’s stuff you don’t hear on a regular basis.
For example, just the simple statement that he’ll tailor the defense to what the players do best is among the most exciting things I’ve heard a coach say recently. Many coaches narrow-mindedly force their system on their players, and continue doing so even after it becomes apparent it’s not a good marriage.
Fangio undoubtedly won the news conference.
Now, I’ll add this caveat — Al Golden, the former University of Miami coach, also won a lot of news conferences with his energy and enthusiasm, and that relationship didn’t end well, so winning a news conference isn’t much of an accomplishment.
The difference is Fangio has had lots of success, so you tend to believe his words a bit more.
Fangio was asked about his defensive style and he said he can’t sum it up in one word, that he doesn’t have a buzzword.
“I’m not a buzzword guy as far as that goes other than we want to play good defense, and what’s good defense?” he asked. “Keep them out of the end zone.”
Sometimes simple statements are the best way to get your point across.
Sometimes simplicity, the type of plain language that everyone can understand and get behind, inspires confidence and encourages success.
We’ll see if that happens with Fangio and the Dolphins defense.
We’re months from seeing results.
But here’s another reason you tend to believe Fangio when he says he’ll allow the players to dictate the system.
Interestingly, Fangio said he doesn’t know much about the Dolphins defense.
“Well, I didn’t study the Dolphins defense, per se, that much,” he said of his year away from the game. “Basically what I did with all my time was I kind of treated it like a college professor on a sabbatical and was watching a lot of NFL tape, more from a situational standpoint rather than studying a team, per se.
“So I never actually studied the Dolphins in its entirety.”
You’d like to think that means Fangio doesn’t have any preconceived notions of players, that he’s basically viewing them with an open mind and what he sees will form the basis of the Dolphins defense.
If so, that’s refreshing, intelligent and enlightened, and it’s a welcomed approach.
