Eagles at Epicenter: Jonathan Gannon Fiasco 'Impacted Peoples’ Lives,' Cost Philly Vic Fangio?
Vic Fangio signed a two-week contract with the Philadelphia Eagles after they won the NFC Championship this past season, helping then-offensive coordinator Shane Steichen try to outmaneuver Kansas City Chiefs' defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo in Super Bowl LVII.
The veteran defensive mind bolted for the Miami Dolphins' defensive coordinator job after the season, even as the same position opened up for the Eagles, with Jonathan Gannon leaving to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
We've since learned that Gannon's exit wasn't a particularly smooth one, with the Eagles and Cardinals reaching a trade settlement after the latter tampered with him as he prepared to coordinate Philadelphia's defense in an eventual Super Bowl loss.
Talking to John Kincade on 97.5 The Fanatic this week, ESPN's Adam Schefter says that in the shuffle of Gannon's mishandled departure, the Eagles missed out a chance to hire one of the best defensive coordinators in the sport on a full-time basis.
“The interesting part about it would be this, I think it impacted a lot of peoples’ lives," Schefter said. "Vic Fangio, for example, probably would not have taken the Dolphins defensive coordinator job and would be the defensive coordinator in Philadelphia today if everything was on the up and up. And so, it didn’t just impact the Cardinals and their job with Jonathan Gannon, it impacted others as well."
As Pro Football Talk pointed out, Schefter didn't entirely unpack why Gannon's situation impacted the ability of the Eagles to hire Fangio on a full-time basis as the defensive coordinator. But you can bet that if Schefter is dropping hints that it did, someone wants that angle out there.
Perhaps the best solution to prevent another Gannon-type situation moving forward would be for the NFL hiring cycle not to begin until after the postseason. That way, hot coordinators could focus entirely on helping their current employers. After the Super Bowl, they would be free to focus 100% of their attention on advancing their own individual careers. This would likely require some other key offseason dates -- free agency, the NFL Draft -- being pushed back, but seems to be the most fair solution.
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