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When Vic Fangio takes the sideline at Lincoln Financial Field as a coach for the Philadelphia Eagles this season, he’ll be in the same complex that his favorite sports team plays in.
The veteran football coach is a huge baseball and Phillies fan, and he’s finalizing a deal to become the Eagles defensive coordinator on Thursday, according to ESPN‘s Adam Schefter.
Fangio, a defensive coordinator for six previous NFL teams and the Denver Broncos head coach from 2019 to 2021, grew up in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, rooting for the Dick Allen and the Phillies as a child. As noted in a feature by The Athletic‘s Jon Greenberg, the 65-year-old has kept up with the club throughout his adulthood and coaching career. Fangio attended Game 3 of the 2022 National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park and experienced the rush of Rhys Hoskins’ bat spike.
Aside from his baseball fandom, Fangio has some football coaching experience in Philly as well. He was a defensive assistant for the 1984 USFL-champion Philadelphia Stars team that played its regular-season games at the Vet and its postseason games at Franklin Field. He was also a consultant for the Eagles during the 2022 season. Now, after a year as the defensive coordinator in Miami, Fangio will return to Philadelphia as a permanent fixture on head coach Nick Sirianni’s staff after a disappointing first-round exit in this year’s NFL playoffs.
“I really value the relationship I was able to develop with Coach Fangio,” Sirianni said in October before facing Fangio’s Dolphins. Great person, great football mind. We know we’re going to have our hands full with any Vic Fangio-coached defense. … Huge Phillies fan; I’m hoping he’s a little distracted (by the MLB postseason).
“But really good person, really good coach. I value the friendship, and the time we spent together last year.”
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