San Francisco 49ers: Vic Fangio Should Be the Head Coach in 2015
The San Francisco 49ers are looking high and low for their new head coach, and some interesting names have come up. The 49ers have been linked with everyone from their former offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan to Denver Broncos’ offensive wunderkind Adam Gase—courtesy of NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Mike Silver (h/t Pro Football Talk)—as well as a passel of other coaches around the league.
However, it hasn’t been necessary for Jed York and Trent Baalke to rack up the frequent-flier miles to interview candidates. The best option for head coach for the 2015 San Francisco 49ers, now that Jim Harbaugh is gone, can be found just down the hallway. The head coach for the 49ers should be defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
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According to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, Vic Fangio’s interview lasted six hours and was “very impressive.” This should come as no surprise, as Fangio’s a football-lifer. There’s no doubt he knows defense inside and out, and his decades of experience breaking down opposing offenses gives him a significant amount of offensive experience for someone who never has held a head coaching position.
His resume, especially his recent accomplishments, is impeccable. The 49ers have finished in the top five in yards allowed and top 10 in points allowed every single season of Fangios’s tenure. No other team in football—not even the Seattle Seahawks, who have had the top overall defense each of the last two seasons—can boast as long of an active streak of such success.
Promoting Fangio to the head spot would be focusing on the team’s strength and maintaining a line of succession for the most successful unit on what has been a very successful team. It’s not quite George Seifert replacing Bill Walsh in 1989, but it’s a similar philosophy.
Fangio’s most impressive season was probably this one.
By the end of the year, Fangio’s defense was missing it’s preseason starting defensive end in Ray McDonald; it’s two top nose tackles in Glenn Dorsey and Ian Williams; it’s top three inside linebackers in Patrick Willis, NaVorro Bowman and Chris Borland; a starting outside linebacker in Ahmad Brooks, starting safety Eric Reid and three of the top four cornerbacks in Tramaine Brock, Jimmie Ward and Perrish Cox.
Still, the 49ers defense was more-than-adequate.
Football Outsiders ranked the 49ers defense fifth overall in terms of DVOA and actually higher than it was in 2013. Considering that injury list included four Pro Bowlers and two first-round draft picks, that’s an amazing performance. Imagine taking that talent off Buffalo’s fourth-ranked defense, for example, and you can see what an astounding coaching job Fangio was able to put together.
Under a Fangio regime, there’d be no question of the locker-room unrest that could occur after a very successful coach like Harbaugh departs. There are few coordinators in football as respected, both within the San Francisco locker room and around the league as a whole. His list of admirers includes:
- NaVorro Bowman, who said, “There’s a lot of chemistry there with the guys who have been here the past four years with him. I just think that’s a great thing that we have, and we don’t want to lose that.”
- Dan Skuta, who also made a public statement supporting Fangio on Monday.
- Ex-Ravens head coach Brian Billick, who called Fangio “the best (defensive coordinator) in the league, hands down, no contest.”
- Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, who said that Fangio would make a good head coach without “any doubt,” saying “he has a great knowledge of the game…I think he’d do a heck of a job.”
That’s just in the past few weeks. Fangio has been consistently praised everywhere he has gone.
Jim Mora was fired by the Indianapolis Colts for not firing Fangio, and Fangio was immediately picked up by the expansion Houston Texans to be defensive coordinator.
John Harbaugh gave him nothing but the highest praise in speaking to his brother when Jim Harbaugh was looking for a defensive coordinator for Stanford. At Stanford, his players nicknamed him “Lord Fangio” because he was like “an evil genius.”
Richard Sherman said that “Lord Fangio has brought a sense of calm, a feeling that's it's going to work. There's a belief in one another, that we have the athletes, that we can play with anybody.”
A sense of calm is precisely what the 49ers need after the tumultuous 2014 season. Promoting Fangio to head coach is a move against panic and conclusion jumping.
This is a team that made three straight championship games. In Trent Baalke’s words, they are reloading, not rebuilding. How can you avoid a rebuild if you replace the entire coaching foundation? Keeping Fangio keeps the entire defensive structure in place, which is the foundation for the 49ers returning to the playoffs.
Fangio might also be able to convince players such as Justin Smith and Frank Gore to make one more run with the 2015 49ers. His level of respect in the locker room is an important bargaining chip to convince the veterans that yes, the 49ers intend to contend next season.
Jed York can talk about how the expectations are Super Bowl-or-bust all they want, but Fangio has the sort of bond with his players that can inspire aching bodies to give it one more go.
Fangio also has a great number of connections throughout the league, thanks to having been a defensive coordinator since the 1990s. This will come in handy because the success of a Fangio regime would depend very strongly on the hiring of a top-flight offensive coordinator to go with him. Fangio is not going to help Colin Kaepernick’s development by himself.
However, Fangio’s demeanor and attitude bodes well for being the sort of coach who will turn the keys over to an offensive expert, rather than a micromanager who will insist on controlling every aspect of the offense.
That might be appealing to someone like Oregon’s offensive coordinator Scott Frost, Atlanta’s offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter or ex-Cleveland head coach Rob Chudzinski, each of whom would like a large degree of control over their respective offenses.
His connection with Dom Capers, who was his head coach in Houston and is currently defensive coordinator for Green Bay, might also give him an in for Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, another potential name to watch out for as an offensive coordinator.
Is Fangio a slam-dunk choice for head coach? No. His lack of experience in the head role is a major black mark against him. His blunt, outspoken personality might also not mesh well with the ownership’s attitude—they just came out of one protracted battle with a head coach, so they may be looking for more of a “yes man” type that won’t make too many waves.
I am also not saying Fangio is the only good choice for head coach. Seeing what Adam Gase could do with Colin Kaepernick is a very enticing prospect, as is the idea of the Mike and Kyle Shanahan taking over the role of head coach and offensive coordinator. Ravens’ offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak also is an intriguing option.
None of them, however, would be a good choice if it meant losing Fangio, and there’s no guarantee that Fangio will stay as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator if he’s passed over for head coach. There is no one out there who is such an enticing coaching candidate that it would justify the loss of Fangio.
Whatever the cost, whatever the situation, Vic Fangio needs to have a role on the 2015 San Francisco 49ers. I think he’s ready for his head coaching close-up. We’ll see, likely later this week, if Jed York and company agree.
Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Follow him @BryKno on Twitter.
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