‘You wanted it. You got it.’
Fangio a first-time head coach after 32 years in the NFL
Vic Fangio wore a small piece of Chicago on Thursday afternoon when he was introduced to the Denver media as the new Broncos head coach.
The former Bears defensive coordinator was dressed in a navy blazer adorned with a Broncos pin, a white shirt and an orange tie that Bears Chairman George McCaskey gave him as a parting gift after four seasons in Chicago. It was not the look Bears fans had grown accustomed to.
“I said to him, ‘George, can I do the press conference tomorrow in my gray sweats?’ — he calls it my gray business suit,” Fangio said. “He said, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ So he gave me this tie to wear.’ ”
The McCaskey family, general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy were among a long list of people Fangio thanked Thursday. He called the Bears an “honorable and first-class organization” and he said watching Nagy in his first season would be beneficial for him as he embarked on a new journey after more than three decades in the NFL.
“Seeing Matt become a firsttime head coach this year and also run the offense besides being a head coach has been a great resource for me for what I’m about to undertake,” Fangio said. “He did a tremendous job for the Chicago Bears, and the Bears are lucky to have him.”
Fangio, 60, has 32 years of NFL experience, including 19 years as a defensive coordinator for the Panthers, Colts, Texans, 49ers and Bears.
After three seasons as Bears defensive coordinator, he interviewed for their top job last January. When the Bears hired Nagy, he stayed on as coordinator.
A year later, he found the right pairing with Broncos President John Elway.
“I’ve never fit the match of the profile of what certain teams were looking for or I was with teams that weren’t succeeding at that time,” Fangio said. “Fortunately, I matched the profile of what John was looking for, and we formed a good marriage.”
Fangio borrowed a line from Nagy when talking about building up a Broncos team that has gone 5-11 and 6-10 the last two seasons. He said they will “be obsessed” with being great teammates, are “not going to cut any corners” and will stress the fundamentals.
Since 2015, he helped the Bears turn around a defense that ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in points and yards allowed to a unit that was first in many categories, including 17.7 points allowed per game and 27 interceptions this season.
Fangio coached four defensive players to the Pro Bowl this season — Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Jackson and Kyle Fuller. He said he is looking forward to working with All-Pro linebacker Von Miller and standout rookie Bradley Chubb in Denver.
Fangio’s turnaround time from coaching the Bears defense in a 16-15, playoff loss to the Eagles to taking over the Broncos was five days. He interviewed with Elway the day after the loss.
“There’s the disappointment and the sudden end to the season and the shock of the game,” Fangio said of his emotions Sunday night. “Those are the emotions you have to get through. Once the game was over, I went back to my office after a few hours of mourning and put together something to present to John and his guys. It was easy for me because I didn’t have to make a fancy presentation. I just took stuff I use daily and yearly. I didn’t have to work too hard to do that.
“It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s had a happy ending.”
Pace and Nagy won’t speak to the media until next week, but they released statements through the Bears Twitter account Thursday afternoon thanking Fangio.
“Vic was a key leader in bringing great defense back to Chicago,” Pace said. “We will continue to build upon the foundation he helped establish.”
Nagy, who will face off against Fangio next season when the Bears play in Denver, also offered his congratulations. The Bears are in the process of finding Fangio’s replacement.
“There are only 32 of these jobs in the world, and I know what it means to him to get his chance in Denver,” Nagy said. “It is bittersweet to move on, but he has more than earned this opportunity, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Along with talk of his trademark gray sweats, the Broncos media also got Fangio to talk about one of his favorite nonfootball topics — baseball. He noted he was coaching in Chicago when the Cubs broke their World Series drought.
“Things might be looking up for the Rockies,” he said.
Fangio said his dream when he got into coaching was to be a high school coach, but he began working his way up because people told him he should. He said he’s now telling himself the same thing he did when he became a defensive coordinator for the first time.
“OK, you wanted it,” Fangio said. “You got it. You better succeed.”