Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has been retained by the Chicago Bears. The 59-year old Fangio has been the Bears defensive coordinator since 2015 when he came over from San Francisco. Since the firing of former head coach John Fox, general manager Ryan Pace has expressed his desire to retain him even after hiring Matt Nagy.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Fangio agreed to a three-year deal. Now the major parts of the coaching staff will all be together through at least 2020, which is a realistic time to get this young team into playoff contention. While the Bears still have some more coaches to hire, the head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator are set. It is likely that some members of Fangio’s staff from last year will be retained as well.
Fangio took over a defense in 2015 that was among the very worst in the league. Since then he has helped build it to a defense which was top-10 in points allowed and total points in 2017. Adding to those accolades is the fact that his defense went from having the least takeaways in 2016 to the 13th most in the NFL in 2017. There is still more to be added to the defensive unit for 2018, but the base has been established and has shown success.
The Bears are going to have to add more depth to the secondary. Even if they re-sign Kyle Fuller, the corner position lacks reliable depth. The outside linebackers will likely be addressed as well, with reliable interior linebackers in Trevathan and Kwiatkowski. The DL is very strong at the moment, so add more depth throughout the unit and the defense will get even stronger.
Now that Fangio has been inked, the Bears can focus on assembling the rest of the staff and move forward. This took much longer than expected, even longer than hiring Nagy, but this was a big get for the Bears. Retaining a coordinator that was rumored to be considered for jobs in other markets like Green Bay or even head coaching gigs is not an easy feat.
