49ers news: Vic Fangio formally accepts the defensive coordinator position for the Dolphins
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that former 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has officially accepted the position of defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins.
The longer Fangio waited to sign the dotted line, the more he felt like he was coming back to San Francisco. But it could be as simple as Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was willing to pay more than Jed York.
On Wednesday, Kyle Shanahan had this to say about what he’s looking for in a potential replacement for DeMeco Ryans:
“I love the scheme that we run, and I feel the bases that we have at the D-line, at linebacker, at corner, at safety, I think our players fit in there really well too, so I hope to find someone who matches us in personality and schema.
This phrasing makes you wonder if Fangio had different ideas than Shanahan, who probably didn’t like Nick Bosa dropping into the cover, even if it was for a few games per game.
Continuity aside, I wouldn’t assume that Shanahan and Fangio meshed as we might assume. When Fangio was Denver’s head coach, there were reports that Vic wouldn’t let the team play music.
It’s hard to believe Kyle is looking for something as simple as whether the potential contender is running a 4-3. DeMeco had a definite plan, and once he got to third down, he was going to blitz like crazy and run man coverage behind.
Ryan’s philosophy worked perfectly, so it wouldn’t be surprising to know that Shanahan is looking for someone to pick up where DeMeco left off.
Here’s more from Shanahan on what he looks for in a potential candidate:
“I like our defensive team, I like our defense. I’m trying to get something where we don’t have to put a lot back. I’d love to keep our same staff, so I’m going to talk to a few guys about our staff I’m going to be talking to some guys outside of our team and hopefully whatever route we decide to take whether we hire a new guy or not is someone who can work with who we have and what we have accomplished here.”
The current candidates are former Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks and Commanders defensive backs coach Chris Harris.
When Shanahan used the term personality, Wilks came to mind. He’s strong-willed, no doubt a great communicator based on Carolina’s second-half success, and they ran a similar program.
Wilks also has head coaching experience as well as several years as a defensive coordinator, giving him a leg up on Harris, who is an up-and-coming contender just hasn’t done it before. If you are Shanahan, do you entrust the keys to a coach with no experience as a coordinator? Unlikely.