The Philadelphia Eagles have been consistent playoff contenders ever since Nick Sirianni took over as head coach in 2021. They’ve yet to miss the postseason under Sirianni’s guidance.
He’s helped them achieve double-digit wins for four seasons in a row. Now, a key member of Sirianni’s coaching staff could be considering retirement.
According to PhillyVoice‘s Jimmy Kempski, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio told the team he was retiring after the season concluded. Yet, Fangio has since been “convinced by the team’s brass to stay for at least one more season in 2026. For now.”
The Eagles even reportedly reached out to their former defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, to see if he’d be interested in his old job, should Fangio retire this offseason. He has since been hired as the Green Bay Packers‘ new defensive coordinator.
Jim Schwartz, who recently became “visibly upset” upon learning he did not land the Cleveland Browns‘ head coaching job, was another candidate the Eagles planned to reach out to. Schwartz has not landed a new job since. Perhaps he’s waiting to see if he can get his old job as the Eagles’ defensive playcaller back, but Fangio is sticking around in Philadelphia “for now.”
Fangio, 67, has been the Eagles’ defensive coordinator/playcaller since 2024, helping Philadelphia win Super Bowl LIX. While he’s been a popular head coaching candidate in past hiring cycles, the former Denver Broncos head coach did not receive any requests to interview this time around.
Perhaps that fed into Fangio’s temptation to walk away. After all, if leading the Eagles to the NFL’s second-best defense in points allowed in 2024 and the fifth-fewest this past season wasn’t good enough, what will it take for Fangio to get back on the NFL’s head coaching radar? The Pennsylvania native likely had a great amount of interest in filling the Steelers’ coaching vacancy, which went to Pittsburgh native Mike McCarthy instead.
For now, Fangio returns for a third season coordinating the Eagles’ defense, but he clearly had thoughts of doing something else this year instead. That should have the Eagles identifying other potential candidates to take over if/when Fangio decides to retire after a career that’s included 25 seasons as either an NFL defensive coordinator or head coach.
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