The Eagles likely believe they are far from locked in on Fangio, whose coaching career in the league dates back to 1986 and includes seven stops as DC with one three-year head coaching stint. His only break from the NFL during that time came as Stanford’s defensive coordinator in 2010.
Fangio has orchestrated a top-five defense in each of his two seasons with Philadelphia, and his unit became the savior of a team that never found its offense in a vicious follow-up to last year’s Super Bowl LIX victory.
Fangio’s continuation as DC provides much-needed continuity under head coach Nick Sirianni. Philly will be adjusting to Sean Mannion, the team’s fifth offensive line coach in as many years, and life with Jeff Stoutland, who left his role as the team’s offensive line coach after 13 seasons.
Regardless, there will still be turnovers and changes on the defensive end. The Eagles saw players like Jaelan Phillips, Nakobe Dean and Reed Blankenship leave in free agency, and Cooper DeJean will apparently be used in a new way after his 2025 All-Pro season.
Fangio told reporters that the Eagles plan to hire DeJean safely as they work from their base. DeJean recorded just eight snaps in the box as a strong safety and spent one game at free safety last season, per PFF. He spent the majority of his time — 697 snaps — as a corner in the slot, and Fangio certainly noted that DeJean will again assume his nickel corner responsibilities when the defense goes into its nickel formation.
With adjustments all over the place to get used to as Philadelphia tries to rediscover its groove moving forward, Fangio made it clear Thursday that he won’t be alone and shouldn’t leave the team in need of a new DC for some time.
Instead, the Eagles can rest assured that they can count on old reliable Fangio to lift them up and run a ferocious, well-oiled machine.