Vic Fangio – August 22, 2023
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Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio
(I have 65 years old targeted as my retirement age. I’m assuming you’re nowhere close to retirement?) – “No, not yet.”
(Have you ever come close?) – “No, I really haven’t. I still feel young. (I’m) 65 years young and still can outwork these young coaches. (laughter)”
(How are you a different coach than you were when you were 35?) – “Just learn through experiences.”
(Anything in particular?) – “No. It’s evolution.”
(I know the last time we spoke to you, you said you wanted to find depth in key spots – safety, defensive line, cornerback. Two weeks later, have you had anything answered yet?) – “In some cases. At corner we’re still – because of injuries, Cam Smith hasn’t played much. We’ve had guys in and out of there that haven’t had the opportunity through missed practices or missed games. We’re kind of a little bit in flux there with Jalen (Ramsey) already being out.
(And at safety and defensive line?) – “Yeah, that’s still up in the air.”
(What about defensive line depth? How much has DT Da’Shawn Hand helped you?) – “Yeah, a really good pickup at that point in training camp to get him in here. I’ve been pleased with his play and hopefully he’ll continue to improve and has a good chance to be a part of the team.”
(I saw with DE Emmanuel Ogbah, he’s working with standing up but then in goal-line situation, he has his hand on the ground. Is he going to be a guy who does both? Or do you see him exclusively as an outside guy?) – “He can do both. When he had his hand on the ground, we were in a different defense. He wasn’t an edge player then. But he’s capable of doing both. He’s emphasized the two-point stance to work on it, and he’s really made some steps in that area the last week or so of improving his play out of that stance. But he can play from the three-point also.”
(As someone who’s in my 60s, I can understand how difficult it is to work with people who are less experienced than you. What’s it like with you and Head Coach Mike McDaniel? He’s one of the younger coaches. What are similarities and differences that jump to mind? Or interesting things?) – “I think similarities are we kind of look at the schematic part of the game in a like manner. Obviously, our personalities and way going about doing things is different. But it’s no different than anybody else. You’re similar in some ways, different in others.”
(Talk about the differences in how you go about your work. We listen to you guys and see the differences. How do you see it?) – “Well one, he’s a morning person. I’m a night person. So I stay late. I prefer to sleep in, if I could. He’s the opposite. He’s here early and leaves early.”
(Are there moments where you roll your eyes and are like look what these guys are doing, as an older coach?) – “Almost daily. (laughter)”
(I was talking to Head Coach Mike McDaniel about musical tastes. Everybody has their own. I saw Tony Bennett in Vegas once – it was one of the highlights of my life. Are you more of a Tony Bennett guy or a Frank Sinatra guy? You like Bobby Rydell right?) – “I like Earth, Wind and Fire, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, just to give you a take there.”
(Do you ever slip that stuff into meetings?) – “We got one in the other day. The music – I shouldn’t say music. The noise that they usually play in the meetings is not music. It’s noise. What they played today, I got my request in, was music. (laughter)”
(What are your thoughts on social media?) – “I don’t partake.”
(So you’re not getting here at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. when Head Coach Mike McDaniel gets here?) – “No, no.”
(Has there ever been any overlap where you’re leaving when he’s getting in?) – “No. And I hope there never will be. (laughter)”
(Are you adjusted to a new training camp and this training camp schedule?) – “Yeah, it’s been different for me. It’s still an ongoing process. I’m looking forward to the end of training camp only because of that, so we can get into a more normal schedule that hopefully I’m used to.”
(Is there something specific from the entirety of the two preseason games that you can say, ‘You know what, that really pleases me?’) – “I think overall, it was good play. I do think we need to keep in mind that the other team’s number one quarterback last week was a rookie. So I think this week, (Trevor) Lawrence is going to play and he’s a real dude, so he’ll be a good test for us.”
(CB Cam Smith, you’re not going to be able to see him in 11-on-11’s yet, but before he went out injured and now with regards to CB Eli Apple and CB Noah Igbinoghene, was the margin between the three of them, in the competition for playing time, small? Or has one of those three emerged as a potential starter when you go nickel with CB Kader Kahou and CB Xavien Howard?) – “Small. It was small and it still is. But there’s injuries involved. Cam just hasn’t been out there enough. The biggest thing with Cam is we got to feel like we can trust him to do the right thing. We’re all going to get beat some, but we don’t want to get beat by self-inflicted wounds.”
(I wanted to ask you about DT Christian Wilkins holding in and your thoughts on that and how much work does he need to ramp up for the season?) – “Well he had, I don’t know the exact amount of days, but the first two weeks we’ll call it, he was partaking in all of training camp. He still does some stuff. I feel good that whenever that’s resolved, he’ll be ready to go.”
(Another guy in that role, DT Brandon Pili, has flashed a lot and has had a lot of playing time. Is he a guy you can trust in that position?) – “Yeah, he’s getting better and better each and every day. I’ve been pleased with his progress and he’s definitely in that hunt.”
(Your defense has been without two of its top players in DT Christian Wilkins and CB Jalen Ramsey. I know that’s life in the NFL, but is there any frustration from that standpoint that you haven’t seen the whole thing?) – “There’s initial frustration, but then you’re used to it, and you move on. It’s just part of being in the league. Jalen is an unfortunate non-contact injury on grass. And Christian is an administrative deal, which I think will get resolved eventually.”
(Do you talk to CB Jalen Ramsey regularly?) – “Yeah, I see him and we talk.”
(How is he in his recovery?) – “I think he’s progressing well. He’s obviously trying to beat the timeline that the medical people have put on him, and he says he will. I think it’s way too early to know if that’s true or not. He’s working with the idea of coming back earlier rather than later.”
(At the safety position, what exactly are you looking for? Little cues or stuff that you look for?) – “Just overall good play.”
(I know you’re as excited to have LB Jaelan Phillips as he is to have you as his defensive coordinator. There’s no question how talented and hungry he is, but what strides have you seen from him that maybe even surprised you?) – “I think he’s improved in his fundamentals. Both what happens early in the down and late in the down. I’ve been very pleased with his play. I think if he continues to improve on the little things, great things will happen because of his talent.”
(What have you seen from LB David Long Jr.?) – “David can run. He’s a run and hit guy and can make good, flashy plays, which are good to have. He’s a good tackler. We just have to become more consistent in executing everything.”
(We saw DB Elijah Campbell guarding some tight ends in the preseason game. What about his skill set makes him right for that role?) – “He’s a versatile guy. He obviously can play safety and come down and play the dime position. When you’re versatile, that does help you and helps the team when you’re putting together your final 53.”
(The other coaches here have talked about your teaching ability, and obviously you’ve seen a lot of things. But also your sense of humor. What kind of sense of humor do you have and what’s your best line?) – “Oh, I don’t know. It just comes off the cuff. It can be dry at times. But I like to have fun in the meetings. That’s my favorite time of the day is being in front of the defense and coaching them. I don’t go too crazy out on the field with the coaching because we’re not out there on the field with them. I always say the practice field is the quiz, the game’s the final exam, and we’re not there to help them. So it’s our time to coach them in the meetings and individual periods and when they’re playing out there and 11-on-11 drills, I like to leave them alone, and I like the coaches to leave them alone because we’re not going to be out there with them. So a big deal of my coaching goes on in the meeting rooms.”
(We’ve see you throw flags during team drills sometimes. Is it specifically when you see a penalty? Or is it when you see something that you don’t like?) – “I’m not looking for anything. But if I see a penalty, I’ll throw it. Now I haven’t done it in a while because we’ve had these two weeks of joint practices where we’ve had league officials there. Maybe I’ll have to bring it back out today. I don’t know. But we were bad as a team last year in penalties, both offense and defense. I think one phase was last in the league, one was second to last. And the only way to improve something is to emphasize it.”
(One month ago when we talked to you, you said that you weren’t fully comfortable with the depth. You wanted people to separate themselves and show some things. Where are you now as we get closer to the season?) – “A little clearer, but this last week is going to be very important for a lot of people. It’s easy to pick a team 1 through 40 or 45. It’s those 8 to 13 that are hard. This week is going to very telling for some of the guys.”
