Pure Progression: Inside the Greatness Of Eagles' DC Vic Fangio

PHILADELPHIA - Vic Fangio has been coaching professional football for 40 years. The general sentiment surrounding veteran coaches who’ve amassed the kind of experience the Eagles’ defensive coordinator has is that they are “old school.”

And there are certainly parts of Fangio’s process and demeanor that might take you back to different eras of the game. However, what defines the most well-regarded defensive mind in the NFL is the rare ability to adapt and evolve in a sport that looks completely different than the day Jim Mora hired the Dunmore, PA. native as a defensive assistant with the old Philadelphia Stars in 1984.

Imitation is always the sincerest form of flattery and Fangio became the most copied defensive coordinator in football for always being ahead of the curve.

“I think what impresses me most with Vic is that he's had so much success in being a defensive coordinator through decades of the NFL, but he just continues to grow as a coach,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said this week. “I've never heard Vic say, ‘Well I've always done it this way.’ All I've ever heard Vic say is, ‘What's the best way to do this, this time, this game?’

“That's so impressive.”

For those who will try to label Fangio and what he does, you'd better be quick because his “scheme” is like a Snapchat. It’s here today, but it might be gone tomorrow, depending on the talent he has on hand and the next opponent on the schedule.

In many ways, the current defensive tint to the NFL can be traced to a small group of defensive minds and the idea to disguise coverages pre-snap, only to spin off into a host of different coverages, “muddying” the view for veteran quarterbacks, never mind young ones.

Instead of teaching concepts many offensive coaches have gone toward pure progression because the quarterback can’t decipher coverage quickly enough.

Coverage Vs. Progression

Veteran Atlanta signal caller Kirk Cousins went viral earlier this week for getting in the weeds and explaining what’s going on with quarterback play and how they are being taught.

“I can get on this soap box if you want me to,” Cousins said. “I lived the transfer. I live the jump, right? So I came into the league even at Michigan State, it was you see coverage and you pick a side and you basically take five eligibles down to two down to your checkdown.”

Go to quarterback school with @KirkCousins8 🤯 pic.twitter.com/FkMZfeVtVy
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) December 17, 2025

The old-school approach to quarterback play was based on pre-snap identification of defensive coverages. The quarterback would read whether the defense was in single-high safety or split-safety looks, then choose which side of the field to work, splitting it in half.

Fangio is the godfather of modern NFL defenses shifting to disguised coverages that spin off after the snap of the football.

“What happened was defenses got so good at disguising it that I would be so stressed going into games,” Cousins explained. “The whole game plan’s built on is it single high or split safety and I can’t see if it’s single high or split safety... So then it started to become let’s just give you pure progressions and let’s just go 1 2 3 4 5.”

The great QBs use both tools. Sometimes they can find the “fish” who tips the coverage pre-snap or play the progression game is the disguise holds.

“I remember Mike Shanahan, my rookie year, told me a story being with Steve Young and Joe Montana where Bill Walsh was teaching them one two three four five and Steve came in and complained to Mike. He’s like, ‘Coach, I can’t go 1 2 3 4 5. I’m getting sacked.’” Cousins said. “... And then Mike went to Joe and was like, ‘Are you going 1 2 3 4 5?’ And Joe goes, ‘No.’ He’s like, ‘I know based on coverage and based on tendencies and personnel, like I can rule that guy out.’”

The moment any quarterback thinks they’ve found the answers, Fangio has proven to be the guy who will change the questions.

“ I think that you can get into that sometimes. ‘Yeah, I've always done it this way,’” Sirianni said when discussing Fangio. “[Coaching is] finding out ways to win and to be the most successful each and every week. I think he's shown different ways that he's done that all year, and that's kind of how I view how he's been throughout his career.

“ Man, I'm glad we have him.”

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