Last year when Mike McDaniel was hired to be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, there was talk he wanted to try to bring Vic Fangio to be his defensive coordinator. He ultimately chose to keep or, depending on the source, was told to keep Josh Boyer as his defensive coordinator, with the defense improving to keep the continuity intact. The latter I never understood; if that was the case, to keep Boyer, a head coach should be able to choose his own staff and bring in his or her own people. Boyer did some good things as a defensive coordinator, but this defense fell off the tracks this year. People will say the Dolphins had injuries, and that is true, but this defense has the talent to overcome some of the injuries. Plus, this didn’t do well against better offenses and only did well against lesser opponents. That shouldn’t be the case. The Dolphins’ defensive front is pretty solid, and they showed that against the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card game, but where was that all season? There was talk last year that former head coach Brian Flores took over the defensive play calling the 2nd half of the season the year before, and with the defense regressing this year, it makes you wonder. Boyer will land somewhere else, but this change needed to be made. 

Fangio was the best defensive coordinator available. Some will say one of the best defensive minds in the game today. Everywhere he has gone, his defenses have improved. This might mean a change in philosophy, going from an attacking blitz-heavy to a more zone defense, but Fangio always mixes up his fronts and coverages. He also doesn’t have to rebuild this defense as they have talent with Christian Wilkins, Jalen Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Xavien Howard, and Javon Holland, so the cub board isn’t bare. There will be some tweaks in the personnel, like every year. The linebacker position is the position that is probably going to get gutted because they need to add more talent in that area. 

The Dolphins looked at other candidates like Sean Desani and Kris Richard, who are good candidates, but they needed a more experienced guy to lead this young core of players. The Dolphins made him the highest-paid defensive coordinator, as they should, considering he was the best guy available. He was in high demand as other teams were interested in Fangio as their defensive coordinator.  

This is a good hire for McDaniel because not only does he have a guy that can run the defense while he tends to the offense, but Fangio was a head coach before. Fangio’s head coaching experience could help rub off on McDaniel on certain things. A newer head coach could always use a former head coach on his staff to help out on certain situations that come up on the field or issues that could pop up in the locker room. Brian Flores did hire Jim Caldwell, but he had a health issue and wasn’t available. Adam Gase never had an experienced guy on his staff to help him out. This is one area that you shouldn’t underestimate in this hire. Their personalities might also be different, but they could complement each other. 

McDaniel got his guy and one of the best in the business. It’s hard not to call this an upgrade, and Fangio should be able to tap the potential out of this young defense that is barely scratching the surface.Â