The Miami Dolphins finally got their man at the defensive coordinator position when Vic Fangio made things abundantly clear after a few days of slight uncertainty.
Fangio will officially sign to be the team’s new defensive boss following the Super Bowl next week, and he’ll earn a pretty penny for his role.
According to a recent report, Fangio will earn more than $4.5 million per year for his new role with the team.
Sources: The Dolphins are doing a three-year deal with Vic Fangio that'll pay their new defensive coordinator more than $4.5 million per. Was always going to be competitive luring Fangio, and Miami was willing to compete.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 3, 2023
In the 2022 NFL season, the Dolphins offense took a major leap forward thanks to having an offensive-minded head coach in Mike McDaniel. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had a career year and looked every part a franchise quarterback despite suffering some scary head injuries during the season.
Unfortunately, however, the defensive did take a bit of a step back. After ranking sixth in total points against in the 2020 season and 16th in the 2021 campaign, the Dolphins fell back even further to 24th in the 2022 season.
Clearly, the team’s front office is determined to reverse that slide with the hire of Fangio.
As is the case with the vast majority of coaches in the NFL, Fangio has called many franchises home over the course of his nearly 40-year NFL career.
His first stint in the league came with the New Orleans Saints as a linebackers coach. He served in that role for nearly a decade before taking a big leap up and landing his first coordinator role with the Carolina Panthers.
Following that gig, he worked as a defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears before landing a lead role with the Denver Broncos.
In the 2022 season, he’s worked with the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles as a defensive consultant.
He will now put the coordinator hat back on for the first time since 2018.
Aside from a change in schemes that Fangio will surely bring, the Dolphins will also likely look to add some additional talent in the offseason. Their draft assets are particularly slim this year, but the team could still make some waves in free agency.
Only time will tell what else the team looks to do this offseason to build off of its playoff berth in the 2022 campaign.
