Is Vic Fangio the key to the Dolphins’ success in 2023?
2022 was a year of vast improvement for the Miami Dolphins, the team’s first year under new head coach Mike McDaniel.
The former 49ers offensive coordinator has been able to turn the Dolphins’ offense into one of the most dangerous in the league in the space of the season, being able to unlock the best in his players. An example of this is the improvement was seen in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has helped he Dolphins have taken leaps forward in offense.
Yet their defence seems to be lacking a little bit. The problem doesn’t seem to be with the talent, with players on their roster such as Christian Wilkins and Xavier Howard, and also having added Bradley Chubb and Jalen Ramsey in recent months.
The issue has been with the play calling. The evidence for this is the former defensive coordinator, Josh Boyer, who has been let go by the team. There have been a lot of people linked with the job to replace him, but former Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio is the man to lead them forward. And what a signing he could prove to be.
Source of the struggles and how to solve them
The defence seems to struggle on third down but that might have had something to do with the play calling. This is because Boyer would blitz on third and long situation and often, this would leave the defensive backs one on one with players. The fact that most of injuries were in the Dolphins’ secondary left them exposed. This sometimes-allowed the opposing offense to have an advantage when the ball was in the air.
Fangio is the right man to lead this defence to better things. The reason for this is that Fangio has a stellar record when it comes to defensive coaching. He has been the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts to name a few.
The Dolphins’ defence hasn’t been great this season and a big reason for this is injuries. Big players for the Dolphins have been out of action for the whole of the season. Players like Byron Jones and Emmanuel Ogbah have been on injury reserve for a while.
Yet, there have been some positives to come from the number of injuries. Kader Kohou has emerged as a potential stud for this young Miami Dolphins’ defence. Wilkins had a breakout year as one of the top defensive tackles in the league, while players like Jalen Phillips and Jevon Holland are also developing into top defensive players. The signing of linebacker David Long is another impressive addition.
Fangio has helped a lot of defenses develop over the years, including the Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers. In the case of the Panthers, Fangio was huge factor in helping the team get to the NFC Championship game in 1996.
He got his first head coaching job with the Broncos in 2019 and while it didn’t go according to plan, the Denver defense was still one of the best in the league at that time.
It is safe to say that Fangio is a defensive master and can help a team like the Dolphins a great deal. If he joins Miami, he will have a great group of plays to work with. He could possibly help the Dolphins lift the Lombardi trophy.
