It’s hard to say what the Chicago Bears did to ensure the return of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The pitch must’ve been strong. After all, it’s not like Fangio didn’t have options. He’s one of the top defensive coordinators in the league and would’ve had a job within 24 hours of departing Chicago. So GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy had to have said the right things to lure him back to a team that hasn’t posted a winning season for five years.
Sure money was no doubt part of the pitch. While contract details aren’t known, Fangio is now undoubtedly one of the highest paid defensive coordinators in the NFL. There’s also the widespread belief that Nagy made a strong impression on him. The idea of combining a Nagy offense, which finished 5th overall in Kansas City this past year, with a Fangio defense? Good things should follow.
Even then it’s still hard to believe Fangio stayed. There had to be another angle to this. As it turns out that may be true.
Ryan Pace agreed to relinquish some roster control to Nagy and Fangio
If nothing else, Pace has proven one thing. He’s a pragmatist. He sees a problem with his team and takes direct steps to fix it. Are players getting injured a lot? He renovates the entire training program and facilities with state-of-the-art equipment and techniques. Has the team a long history of quarterback problems? Trade up in the first round to get the best one you can find. Is that QB struggling from poor offensive scheming? Hire a young head coach who embraces new ideas.
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It seems that mode of operation served him well again. According to a source, Pace approached the Fangio dilemma with similar practicality and made a bold decision as a result.
“As far as players on offense and who the Bears will sign or won’t sign, it will be completely up to Nagy and the same goes for Vic on defense. This was pitched to Nagy in their meeting and was a ‘key’ reason Fangio is back.”
This is a fascinating twist on things
For those who don’t remember, right after the regular season ended for the Bears, Pace had his end-of-year press conference. John Fox had just been fired. He spoke to the media on the plan to get things fixed. Amidst that, he was quite adamant about one thing. Control of the 53-man roster would stay with him.
Ryan Pace won't give specific numbers, timeframes, names on head coach candidates. Here's what we know:
• Won't give up 53-man roster power
• Won't rule out a college coach— Patrick Finley (@patrickfinley) January 1, 2018
So this means the likely situation is as follows. Pace will still make the signings and the draft picks. The key difference is Nagy and Fangio will hold far more sway in which players are to be the most heavily pursued on both ends. It’s less a ceding of power and more a compromise. It makes sense to a degree. Fangio and Nagy are both highly-respected experts in their fields. They should have considerable say in the talent they want to make their schemes flourish.
Credit to Pace for recognizing that.
