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Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN
MIAMI — Former Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio has reached an agreement with the Miami Dolphins to be the team’s defensive coordinator, a source confirmed to ESPN.
Fangio, 64, sat out this season after Denver fired him last January.
Fangio was 19-30 in three seasons as the Broncos’ coach after being hired in 2019. In Miami he will be reunited with outside linebacker Bradley Chubb, whom he coached in Denver and who was traded to the Dolphins last season.
NFL Network first reported that Fangio and the Dolphins had reached an agreement.
Fangio’s defenses have finished in the top 10 eight times, most recently with the Chicago Bears (No. 3) in 2018. The Broncos finished eighth overall in 2019, his final season as their head coach. He has 19 seasons of experience as a defensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers and Bears.
The Dolphins fired defensive coordinator Josh Boyer earlier this month. When Mike McDaniel was hired as the Dolphins’ head coach last year, he kept Boyer as his defensive coordinator.
Miami owned the league’s fourth-best run defense in 2022, but it also ranked 21st in defensive expected points added, 22nd in sacks per pass attempt, and 24th in points allowed per game and third-down percentage. A defense that ranked in the top 10 in takeaways in each of the previous two seasons struggled to create turnovers last season, finishing with just 14 takeaways — tied for the second fewest in the NFL.
Fangio joins a defense with several Pro Bowl-caliber players, including former All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard and alternates Jevon Holland, Christian Wilkins and Chubb.
He is now the third coach on McDaniel’s staff with head-coaching experience, joining quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Darrell Bevell and tight ends/assistant head coach Jon Embree.