It was 2015 and the Chicago Bears were looking to go a brand new direction. Head coach Marc Trestman was shown the door following two disappointing seasons, leaving an opening in Chicago. New general manager Ryan Pace hired veteran John Fox to take over the team and he acted quickly to add a pair of respected coordinators. He brought Adam Gase with him to Chicago from Denver to run the offense and hired Vic Fangio to take over the struggling defense. After just one season, Gase was hired by the Dolphins as their head coach. Gase and Fangio's respective sides of the football will now square off against each other on Sunday afternoon.
Gase and Fangio worked just one year together, but the veteran defensive coordinator left a lasting impression on the young head coach. When speaking to the media on Thursday morning, Gase noted it does not matter what he already knows about Fangio and his defense, Fangio is one of the best around.
"It doesn't matter what I know because Vic is going to have a good plan," Gase said in his presser. "He's very tough to go against. He's extremely smart and he's seen a lot of football."
Adam Gase has a lot of respect for Vic Fangio
by Matt Eurich
8 hours ago
It was 2015 and the Chicago Bears were looking to go a brand new direction. Head coach Marc Trestman was shown the door following two disappointing seasons, leaving an opening in Chicago. New general manager Ryan Pace hired veteran John Fox to take over the team and he acted quickly to add a pair of respected coordinators. He brought Adam Gase with him to Chicago from Denver to run the offense and hired Vic Fangio to take over the struggling defense. After just one season, Gase was hired by the Dolphins as their head coach. Gase and Fangio's respective sides of the football will now square off against each other on Sunday afternoon.
Gase and Fangio worked just one year together, but the veteran defensive coordinator left a lasting impression on the young head coach. When speaking to the media on Thursday morning, Gase noted it does not matter what he already knows about Fangio and his defense, Fangio is one of the best around.
"It doesn't matter what I know because Vic is going to have a good plan," Gase said in his presser. "He's very tough to go against. He's extremely smart and he's seen a lot of football."
Fangio certainly knows a thing or two about having a good defense. His unit is currently second in total defense (294.5 yards per game), first against the run (64.0 yards per game) and second in points allowed (16.2 points per game). The unit is also tied for third in interceptions (eight) and is second in sacks (18). Fangio also has the added benefit of having Khalil Mack on the roster. Chicago traded for him just before the start of the year. Mack has already recorded five sacks, four forced fumbles and has returned one interception for a touchdown in four games this season.
When Fangio took over Chicago's defense in 2015 the unit had suffered two of its worst seasons in team history. Despite making the move from a 4-3 scheme to a 3-4 scheme with a lot of players playing out of position, Fangio was able to get the unit to 14th in total defense in his first season. Injuries hit the group hard in 2016 but Fangio was still able to get his unit into the top half of the league on defense, finishing as the NFL's 15th-best unit in total defense.
In another injury-riddled year in 2017, Fangio was able to get the most out of his unit, finishing 10th in total defense and ninth in points allowed. His unit also recorded 42 sacks.
Miami's offense is not functioning at the level the Gase was hoping it would be at so far this season. His unit is currently 30th in yards through five games, averaging just 288.2 yards per contest. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has had up-and-down moments and the team as a whole has lacked some consistency. In some ways, Gase sounded a bit dejected when asked about Fangio and how his offense could perform against him on Sunday. For the time being, the grizzled Bears veteran appears to have the upper hand.
