Fangio waited to join Fins because of Eagles contract
The reason Vic Fangio is waiting until after the Super Bowl to join the Dolphins is that he’s under contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.
According to multiple reports, Fangio signed a two-week contract to assist Philadelphia in its preparation for Super
Bowl 57 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Fangio, who has been a longtime defensive coordinator and was the Denver Broncos’ head coach from 2019 to 2021, was with the team in Phoenix as it prepared for the championship game. But rather than focus on his area of expertise in defense, he’s worked with the offensive staff and provided input on the Chiefs’ defense from his time in the AFC West.
While it was previously reported that Fangio spent the 2021 season as an Eagles consultant, the latest reports indicate that he was approached for the role but opted to travel and take time away from the game.
At the Super Bowl’s Opening Night last Monday, Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon told the Miami Herald that Fangio has been a “great resource for me to ask certain things and bounce my ideas off of and listen to how sees it.”
According to NFL Network, the Dolphins have already requested an interview with Chargers assistant Tom Donatell for their secondary coach job.
Tom is the son of Ed Donatell, who worked as Fangio’s defensive coordinator with the Broncos. Tom Donatell just completed his second season as the Chargers’ assistant secondary coach.
HURTS MAKES SUPER BOWL HISTORY IN FIRST HALF
The University of Alabama has been an NFL factory since head coach
Nick Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007.
But for all the great Alabama players littered
across the league, no alum have ever scored in the Super Bowl until Sunday.
With a one-yard touchdown run in the game’s opening possession, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts became the first Crimson Tide player to score in the Super Bowl.
Hurts played his first three seasons of college at Alabama, leading the program to a pair of national championship game appearances. But with Tua Tagovailoa later entrenched
as the starter, Hurts transferred to the University of Oklahoma for his senior season and finished second in Heisman voting to Joe Burrow.
That wasn’t the only piece of history for Hurts in the first half.
In the second quarter, Hurts ran for a 4-yard score, becoming the first player in Super Bowl history to rush for two touchdowns in the first half.
The two-touchdown half tied for the most by a quarterback in a Super Bowl.
MAHOMES REINJURES ANKLE, LEADS SCORING DRIVE
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes appeared to aggravate his ankle injury late in the second quarter of Sunday’s game.
Mahomes was tripped up by Eagles middle linebacker T.J. Edward while scrambling and remained on the ground in visible pain before limping to the sideline. He was also seen grimacing on the sideline and hobbling to the locker room at the conclusion of the first half.
But the two-time Most Valuable Player returned to the field to lead a runheavy scoring drive to open the second half. Kansas City ran the ball on seven of 10 plays on the touchdown drive, cutting its deficit to three, 24-21. Mahomes also scrambled for 14 yards on the possession.
Mahomes initially injured his ankle in the AFC divisional round game against the Jacksonville
Jaguars and was later diagnosed with a high ankle sprain. But he played the following week in the Chiefs’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game. He wasn’t listed on the team’s final injury report ahead of the Super Bowl.
HAMLIN RECOGNIZED BEFORE KICKOFF
A little more than two months after Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati, the Buffalo Bills safety, and the medical staff that treated him, was recognized on the field at State Farm Stadium.
Hamlin and the medical staff were also recognized on stage at the “NFL Honors” on Thursday night. During Super Bowl Week, Hamlin, 24, received the 2023 Alan Page Community Award which recognizes a player who “demonstrates a profound dedication to positively impacting his team’s city and communities across the country.”