Make no mistake. Vic Fangio is a respected man around the NFL. Ask any players who worked under him during his stops as defensive coordinator and it’s impossible to find somebody to say a bad word about the guy. Not just as a coach but also as a person. Is really that good of a coordinator? Yes, but the reasons for this go much deeper.
Players initially want to play for Fangio because of his reputation. He’s known for getting the most out of you. If you think you can be a star in this league, there aren’t many coaches who can make absolutely certain that’s a reality or not. Fangio has stories of turning careers around or elevating them to peaks wherever he’s been. The Bears are no exception.
Akiem Hicks? Kyle Fuller? Lamarr Houston? All experienced the best football of their respective careers under his watch. It’s a big reason the defense was so thrilled when the Bears managed to bring him back on a new three-year deal. Yet their reasoning went beyond the Xs and Os as Prince Amukamara explained to Adam Jahns of Chicago Sun-Times.
DC Vic Fangio is at the podium. https://t.co/uPcDbNUR3T
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 30, 2018
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Vic Fangio has clever ways he’s able to bond with his players
“He always just shares with us financial articles about guys losing their money in trying to find the newest Facebook and how they reap the consequences of searching for that,” Amukamara said. “It’s just letting us to know to save our money. That’s one of the things that he dislikes most or that hurts him most is when athletes lose their money on dumb decisions.”
Fangio isn’t stupid. He understands one of the biggest blights plaguing professional athletes is money troubles after they retire. According to a Forbes article back in 2015, as many as 80% of NFL players go bankrupt within the first three years out of the league. The biggest reason for this problem listed? A lack of competent financial planning advice. Leave it to Fangio to double as an accountant as well as a coordinator.
It’s not only that too. He finds other ways to help motivate his players. Knowing Fuller was coming off a torn ACL and faced obvious confidence questions, Fangio was proactive in the offseason last year. He invited the cornerback for rounds of golf where they’d compete in rounds and talk. This seemed to have the desired effect. Fuller came in more relaxed and confident than ever before and delivered a Pro Bowl-caliber year.
This is proof that Fangio is a master. Simply being good at strategy, tactics and planning in football is winning half the battle. The hardest part for any coach is can you get the players to believe. Not just in the system but also themselves. Fangio, as the evidence shows, can do this.