‘He's always been the best:' Mike Shanahan on what makes Vic Fangio an all-timer

He's always been the best:' Mike Shanahan on what makes Vic Fangio an all-timer originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

In the spring of 2022, after he was fired as head coach of the Broncos and before he first joined the Eagles as a consultant, Vic Fangio visited Kyle Shanahan at 49ers OTAs in Santa Clara.

Just in case.

Shanahan, the 49ers' head coach, had long coveted Fangio and wanted to meet with him and talk football for a few days in the event he had an opening that offseason for a defensive coordinator.

I thought there was a chance that the d-coordinator that we had (former Eagles linebacker DeMeco Ryans) could possibly get a head coach job the next year, so I wanted to be prepared.

So Vic and I were talking about that stuff a lot and hoping that could possibly work out if we did change or get a new coordinator. But ... he signed with Miami so we lost him that day."

Shanahan was right about Ryans. But on Jan. 29, two days before the Texans hired Ryans as head coach, the Dolphins hired Fangio as defensive coordinator.

And Shanahan lost his guy. Again.

I mean, I've tried (to hire him) all the times that there's been an opportunity," Shanahan told reporters in Santa Clara on Wednesday. Just, he's always been with someone else when that's happened. I mean, I tried really hard in 17 when we first came here and I tried like two other times on separate occasions.

So Vic's a guy that I've always respected, gone against a number of times before I became a head coach, so that's why I respect him so much and through the process have been able to become friends with him."

The chess match between Shanahan, one of the NFL's top offensive minds, and Fangio, one of the best defensive coaches in the game, will be the featured attraction Sunday when the Eagles face the 49ers at the Linc in a wild-card round game.

I mean, Vic schematically, he has always been the best to me," Shanahan said. As good as anyone there is. Has a very sound scheme that he doesn't need to change up very much. It just naturally changes with how he does his coverages, how he does his fronts, the personnel groupings he does. He's very good at getting a beat on what you're trying to do and making you adjust.

I always respected Vic's defense a ton, whether it was at Chicago playing him or whether it was at San Francisco playing him."

Fangio, who was the 49ers' defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh from 2011 through 2014 before joining John Fox's Bears staff, said he really enjoyed his time in the Bay Area.

We had a lot of success there," he said. We won a lot of games, went to three straight (NFC) Championship Games (2011 through 2013), went to the Super Bowl (in 2012). Really enjoyed it out there. Met my partner out there that I'm still with, so I always tell her that that was the best place I've been for that reason.

I enjoyed it out there. We had a lot of good players, guys that I really enjoyed coaching. Still stay in touch with some of them, like Justin Smith, Patrick Willis, NaVorro Bowman, Ahmad Brooks, Aldon Smith, could go on and on. (Dashon) Goldson, (Donte) Whitner. We had a lot of good players."

Fangio coached against Shanahan's father, long-time Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan, so he's awfully familiar with the concepts and scheme.

I think it's all evolved from his dad and when they went to Washington together (from 2010 through 2013). It's just a continuous evolution. It started in Denver way back, and the bones, the nuts and bolts are there from forever, but things evolve.

Everything's packaged well together and he's a good play caller during the game. You always know that, and everything they do has a purpose and a reason."

Shanahan on Wednesday also spoke about the challenge of facing Jalen Hurts, who will be making his 10th career playoff start Sunday.

One, he's got a big time-arm," he said. So with those wideouts and stuff he has, he's capable of making any throw, whether on time or whether extremely late. Usually when a quarterback's late, you can't throw it that far and catch up with those guys. He can. So you've got to honor the entire field with him.

Anytime you have a quarterback who's capable of doing that, who also is a threat every single play throughout an entire game with his legs, it's an issue. Whether he uses it or not, when someone is a threat like that, you have to adjust certain things that you don't have to worry about vs. other people.

Whether they do it or not, you know you've got to honor it and that slows down your whole defense as a whole."