Vic Fangio never disappoints during a press conference. Not only is his dry wit a delight, the man is not one to withhold his own honest feelings. His first words at the press conference re-introducing him as defensive coordinator was a classic, “All right, let’s continue this love fest.” There’s a reason he is growing so popular in Chicago.
Well that and being an excellent coach of course. Retaining Fangio was by far the biggest staff priority set for new head coach Matt Nagy. After all the man had just turned the Bears defense into a top 10 unit for the first time since 2012. Everybody in the building wanted him back. The big question wasn’t that. It was whether he wanted to return him.
There was speculation for months that Fangio wanted out. Most of it having to do with the weather and the losing. It was going to take a hell of a pitch in order to convince him to stay. Nagy said they had a great conversation and were on the same page from the start. Was that the main reason Fangio chose to stay though? Was it more money?
Vic Fangio throws surprise nod to Mitch Trubisky for his return
Certainly those things played a part. That and not wanting to change destinations again. However, Fangio couldn’t help but admit there was another big reason for his wanting to stick around. That being the young man who wears #10 on offense.
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“Mitchell is part of the equation because I think he has a chance to be a really good player no matter who’s coaching him.”
Understand that this is kind of a big deal. Fangio has been around football for a long time. He’s coached on some teams that had future greats at the quarterback position. In Indianapolis he was there to watch the rise of a young Peyton Manning. When he headed to Stanford he had a chance to see the development of Andrew Luck. Then in San Francisco he saw a glimpse of what Alex Smith would eventually become.
So for him to single out Trubisky as a reason for his return? That’s a big a vote of confidence as Bears fans can expect to see from any coach. It means Vic envisions big things ahead for this team. With Mitch on offense and his continued work on defense there’s no telling how far they might go.
If nothing else this is an indicator that he wants to find out. That in itself is something worth getting excited about 2018 for.
