Back in 2013 new head coach Marc Trestman had his first major task in front of him. That was convincing veteran defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli to stay on with the Chicago Bears. He failed. Marinelli wasn’t convinced he could do the job and so left for other opportunities. In hindsight that should’ve been a major red flag at the time. Five years later the same scenario befell new Bears head coach Matt Nagy. Could he complete the task of keeping Vic Fangio in place?
It’s not quite done yet. There is still work to do but it appears the 39-year old rookie coach is already making a positive impression. According to Ian Rapoport, the signs are growing that Chicago will be able to keep the 59-year old defensive specialist in place. That undoubtedly is sweet music to the ears of his players.
The next domino to fall: There is still work to be done, but the likelihood now is that new #Bears coach Matt Nagy keeps defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The spots are filling up.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2018
Exit of Chargers, Packers and Ravens from race likely pushed Vic Fangio
I reached out to a source on what exactly transpired to get things to this point. As it turns out, believe it or not, the Bears can credit an assist to their biggest rivals. The Green Bay Packers were apparently in deep on bringing Fangio north. He’s a disciple of Dom Caper and would know how to run the scheme the Packers like. His reputation in Chicago certainly convinced them.
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What’s not known is just how close of a call it was.
“Fangio and the Packers were “at the finish line” until the Bears jumped back in.”
Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel soon backed up this story, stating that Nagy realized the danger and moved quickly to make sure Fangio wasn’t going anywhere.
Part of the equation with hiring #Packers coach Mike McCarthy hiring Pettine is that the Chicago Bears put on a full-court press to keep Vic Fangio. New coach Matt Nagy didn't want Fangio to get up to Green Bay. Assuming he has convinced Fangio to stay.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) January 10, 2018
That appears to be the case. It’s not certain what exactly Nagy said or did to convince Fangio to state, but he likely got an assist when both Baltimore and the Los Angeles Chargers filled their own defensive coordinator positions. That combined with Nagy’s pitch seem to sway Fangio enough to compel Green Bay to abandon the pursuit and instead sign Mike Pettine to fill the job. With them off the table, it seems like a forgone conclusion that Fangio stays in Chicago.
