By John Turney 
There is no doubt that Vic Fangio deserves the Dr. Z award, that honors lifetime achievement by an NFL assistant coach. He's earned the distinction. However, while we give kudos to him, we wish the class would have included some assistant coaches who have so far been overlooked.
One is Floyd Peters, one of the top pass rush coaches ever. Also Jim Hanifan, one of best offensive line coaches ever. Be that as it may, that is a topic to address with the younger crowd of PFWA members, who we suspect are not up to snuff in NFL history.
Fangio becomes the 28th winner of the prestigious award, or "prestigious ass award" if you quote Jon Gruden.
Fangio, one of the most respected defensive minds in the NFL, completed his 39th season in professional football in 2025. In his second stint as Eagles defensive coordinator, he orchestrated a top-ranked defense that powered Philadelphia to a Super Bowl LIX victory.
Over his decorated career, Fangio has mentored five Pro Football Hall of Famers—Kevin Greene, Rickey Jackson, Ray Lewis, Sam Mills, and Patrick Willis—and was named PFWA NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2018.
His coaching journey began with four years at the high school level and a graduate assistant role at North Carolina before breaking into pro football with the USFL’s Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars (1984-85). He entered the NFL as linebackers coach for the New Orleans Saints (1986-94), where he helped develop the legendary "Dome Patrol." He later served as defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers (1995-98), Indianapolis Colts (1999-2001), and Houston Texans (2002-05).
Fangio also held roles with the Baltimore Ravens (2006-09), spent the 2010 season as Stanford’s defensive coordinator, and returned to the NFL as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers (2011-14) and Chicago Bears (2015-18). He served as head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2019-21, calling defensive plays during his tenure.
After a year as a consultant with the Eagles in 2022 and a season as Miami's defensive coordinator in 2023, Fangio returned to Philadelphia in 2024. and coached in two Super Bowls—Super Bowl XLVII with San Francisco and Super Bowl LIX with Philadelphia, the latter resulting in a championship.
Further, Fangio's innovative defensive concepts have become one of the most widely adopted systems across the league in recent years.
At the heart of his scheme is its heavy reliance on two-high safety shells before the snap. This pre-snap look provides tremendous post-snap flexibility, allowing defenses to mix coverages while disguising intentions and limiting explosive plays downfield. Rather than aggressive blitzing, the system emphasizes disciplined gap control, using what is known as "gap-and-a-half" technique to stop the run. It's more or less a hybrid of one-gap and two-gap techniques.
It's bend but don't break philosophy and use of quarters/match quarters coverages that force offenses into short, methodical throws meant to frustrate offenses and take away deep passes and chunk through in the seems.
It's bend but don't break philosophy and use of quarters/match quarters coverages that force offenses into short, methodical throws meant to frustrate offenses and take away deep passes and chunk through in the seems.
The scheme’s influence is still evident league-wide: Many teams incorporate his scheme and most wholly and others, most others, use portions of it. Without doubt, Fangio’s fingerprints remain visible on defensive playbooks around the league. What started as a niche philosophy has evolved into a foundational blueprint for success in the modern game.
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