MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Gone are the days where the Miami Dolphins will be ultra-reliant on the blitz to pressure opposing quarterbacks, something that irritated many fans and observers last season.
Vic Fangio made that clear when he answered about his general philosophy about the blitz at his introductory press conference as the Dolphins defensive coordinator at team facilities Monday.
“As needed, and when I want to — versus having to,” Fangio stated firmly. “If you have to, that’s not a great feeling. You want to do it when you want to, on your terms.”
Fangio’s recent blitz percentages reflect that Miami won’t be nearly as dependent on sending extra rushers as its defense was under former defensive coordinator Josh Boyer’s reign.
The last time Fangio held a defensive coordinator position, when he was AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year with the 2018 Chicago Bears, their 20.3 blitz percentage was 10th-lowest in the NFL, according to Pro Football Reference. His rates were in a similar range with a small uptick in the three following seasons as Denver Broncos head coach: 24.1 in 2019, 27.9 in 2020 and 25.3 in 2021.
Although those percentages aren’t available very far in the past, the 64-year-old Fangio, in 19 previous seasons as an NFL defensive coordinator, has had those figures fluctuate.
“I’ve been places in the past where we’ve pressured a lot. I’ve been places where we didn’t pressure very much,” he said. “You got to fit the scheme to the players that you have while also factoring in the opponents that you’re playing.”
But Fangio’s propensity to blitz still figures to be a significant drop from what Boyer had Miami doing. The Dolphins were second in blitz percentage in 2020 (40.8) and 2021 (39.6), Boyer’s first two seasons as defensive coordinator. It worked well for much of that time, but those blitzes lost their luster in 2022 and perhaps became a bit more predictable for opponents.
For a number of reasons — like not having the same caliber of cornerback play on the boundary with Byron Jones missing the season and Xavien Howard playing through groin injuries — Boyer had to drop that rate to 33.3 percent in 2022, but that still ranked third in the league. Many big plays the Dolphins defense surrendered last season came as a result of a blitz being exposed while Miami had fewer defenders on the back end.
But the blitz is only a small portion of what Fangio will be implementing in Miami as the league’s highest-paid defensive coordinator, seeking to improve a unit that finished the past regular season 30th in takeaways, 27th in pass defense, 24th in scoring defense and third-down defense and 18th in total defense.
“We’re in charge of not letting the other team score,” he said. “And we will do anything and everything to do that.”
And he must see the potential with the Dolphins defense. He chose to come to Miami among various suitors after taking a season that was essentially used as a sabbatical while keeping tabs across the league and ultimately assisting the Philadelphia Eagles with Super Bowl prep.
“I think the Dolphins have a good thing going here,” Fangio said. “I like [coach Mike McDaniel] and his staff that he already has in place here. I think there’s good components to the coaching staff led by Mike that made it intriguing to join that. I think there’s a good nucleus of players here, and the lore of South Florida.”
From McDaniel’s perspective, the head coach going into his second season at the helm for Miami, said, “It was a very easy decision when given the opportunity,” adding Fangio possesses “that fearless chase of continuing to evolve and get better and be your best version of yourself as you age with grace.”
Much has been made of a connection between McDaniel and Fangio, given that he was who McDaniel originally wanted as defensive coordinator going back to when he first got the head job last year. But Fangio said Monday the two didn’t have many ties, outside of conversations that were two to three minutes in length at league events like the NFL scouting combine.
Fangio, though, did offer about McDaniel: “He’s energetic, genuine, obviously got a good football mind. Puts good offensive football out there, and hopefully, we can complement that.”
And although Fangio will be 65 in August and is coming off a year away from the game, he has no thoughts of retirement anytime soon.
He said of getting back into coaching this offseason: “That’s who I am. That’s what I do. That’s what I like to do. I still have a lot of coaching left in me.”
