Eagles coordinator’s demanding style makes his players ‘mentally’ strong: ‘Sometimes you hate it’

PHILADELPHIA — Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s demanding coaching style resonates with his new players.
Shortly after Fangio was hired by the Eagles in January, he was criticized by his former Dolphins players. Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill said Fangio struggled to “fit in with his players” last season, and safety Jevon Holland implied that Fangio was a bad person. Ex-NFL players and coaches told NJ Advance Media during the offseason that some people don’t like playing for Fangio because he expects perfection.
Many wondered if Fangio, who has been an NFL coach for 38 years, would have a different approach this season to get along with Philadelphia’s young defense, but he didn’t have to change. Fangio’s new group of players have embraced his tough coaching and continue to make improvements.
Since the bye week, the Eagles have ranked first in seven defensive categories including points allowed (9.7 per game), total defense (214.3 yards per game) and sacks (14).
“(Vic) holds us accountable,” Eagles linebacker Zack Baun told NJ Advance Media. “There is a high standard with Vic. Obviously, we have high standards for ourselves. So that marriage right there is crucial.”
Each day, Fangio watches practice and game film with his players to corrects their mistakes. He doesn’t yell or scream to get his point across, but he does provide harsh feedback.
“(Vic) is here to correct you. Sometimes you hate it. Sometimes you like it,” Eagles safety Reed Blankenship said. “But at the end of the day, that’s football. You just got to have a tough shell and learn how to be mentally strong through that and just apply it through the next week.”
When Fangio sees a player mess up on film, he criticizes them in front of the whole team.
Safety Sydney Brown said Fangio “throws out little jokes” to lighten the mood, but then he gets serious. Fangio shows every snap of the defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs from the previous game. To be successful in Fangio’s scheme, each position group has to understand what the other two position groups have to do on every play.
Fangio also thoroughly explains what each player has to get better at.
“He walks you through pre-snap, ‘This is what you should be thinking. This is where your alignment should be,’” Eagles defensive tackle Thomas Booker said. As the snap is going on, he tells you where your eyes should be, where they were and maybe where they shouldn’t have been.
“He walks you through a player’s perspective. ‘You saw this guy. You saw him take the B-Gap. You should widen out a little more. They are probably trying to attack the gap. Then the ball snaps. You see an out block. You should have reacted this way.’ He’s very cerebral, and he relays it back to players in a step-by-step manner throughout the down. So you can understand, ‘Alright, pre-snap this what I should be doing. During the snap, this is what I should be doing. Post snap, this is what I should be doing.’”
Over the last few months, Fangio has created game plans to stop opposing offenses and helped his starters improve their play. But he has also focused on the development of his backups.
Eagles backup safety Tristin McCollum said Fangio gets “in his ear” because he gets too amped up to make plays and doesn’t always do his job right.
“It’s nothing with malicious intent behind it. It’s nothing with anger behind it,” McCollum said. “It’s just blunt and honest. It’s very, very neutral, which makes it very, very easy for a player to listen to it. If you got hard feelings, it’s all coming from you because it’s definitely not coming from Vic.”
During his college career, Eagles cornerback Eli Ricks played for two head coaches — former LSU coach Ed Orgeron and former Alabama coach Nick Saban — who were blunt. So, he has noticed some similarities between them and Fangio.
“For example, say somebody is ugly or pretty or whatever feature, he’s going to tell it to you with a straight face, no problem,” Ricks said. “No laugh. No emotions. He’s the type to tell you happy birthday with a grumpy face.”
‘Better be taking notes’
Once Fangio is done watching film from the Eagles’ previous game, he plans for the next opponent.
Every time he makes a scouting report, Fangio writes down every play that the opposing offense likes to run and what their tendencies are. Then, he implements the game plan during practices.
“You better be in there taking notes and paying attention, or you ain’t going to be playing,” Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams said. “It’s on you to be in there paying attention and taking notes and listening to what he’s saying. When we go to walkthrough, and if you mess up the calls, you ain’t going to be in. It’s that simple.”
Fangio provides a lot of information in the scouting report, but he tries to simplify it.
After Fangio goes over the base defensive package, the players and position coaches meet to answer questions about the game plan.
“They’re more personable,” Blankenship said about the differences between working with Fangio and the position coaches. “Obviously, you can have regular conversations. You can have detailed conversations about your job description. Wherever you are, they’re one text and one call away.”
Baun has watched every practice and game film with Fangio this season. Last year, he didn’t watch as much film with Saints defensive coordinator Joe Woods.
Ricks, who made the Eagles’ 53-man roster last year, said Fangio has pushed them “to work a lot harder” this season.
“It got me back to the college mode where I really put in the work,” Ricks said. “These past weeks have been some of our best practices. That is our biggest difference from last year. Last year, we would have some alright practices and still win. Toward the end of the year, it bit us in the (expletive).”
In the Eagles’ 37-17 win over the Bengals last Sunday, cornerback Isaiah Rodgers batted a pass into safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s hands for an interception.
Rodgers, who was in the mix for a starting job during training camp, has only played 19% of the defensive snaps this season.
Some of his interactions with Fangio kept him motivated.
“Just the connection with his players,” Rodgers said. “You just don’t run on the field and start playing. When you run on, he’s running on with you and is like, ‘Let’s go Isaiah. Let’s go make a play.’ He believes in all his players.”
Before every game, Fangio emphasizes the importance of good tackling, getting pressure on quarterbacks and creating turnovers. If the Eagles struggle in any of these areas against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Fangio won’t be happy during his Monday meeting.
“When you go into the meeting room, you got to have a hard hat on,” McCollum said. “It’s no hard feelings. It’s just trying to get better. He has some coaching points for me and everybody. Everyone takes it like a man and holds themselves accountable and fixes (their mistakes).”
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Cayden Steele may be reached at [email protected]