National Football League

Why every Dolphins player is feeling new DC Vic Fangio’s impact

Published Aug. 2, 2023 4:55 p.m. ET

The Vic Fangio era is polarizing the Dolphins.

OK, not exactly.

But half of the team is loving it. And the other half of the team is … suffering.

Every defensive player offers rave reviews of Miami's new defensive coordinator. Every offensive player talks about just how difficult he's making their lives. But that, too, is a good thing for Miami. Fangio is getting the most out of the Dolphins' defensive talent. That talent is challenging the offense more than ever. The whole team benefits.

"It's very tough," quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said on Tuesday. "It's hard to distinguish what's going to happen pre-snap and post-snap. I think Vic does a good job with his defense and aligning guys where they need to align and making everything look the same for both run-action, pass-action. I think what I see a lot more this year with the defense is there's a lot of communication. … It's a lot more than what I've seen the past couple years."

Not every team is comfortable comparing an old regime to a new one — because, well, we've seen what has happened with Sean Payton and the Broncos — but the Dolphins have spoken freely about what this new defense is allowing them to do. It is, indeed, a new defense, not just for the Dolphins but also for Fangio. He admitted that he's coming up with new concepts to build around this core of talented players.

They are already down one star: Jalen Ramsey. The cornerback, whom the team acquired in a trade this offseason, suffered a knee injury during the early days of training camp and will likely be out until late in the regular season. But even without him, the secondary looks as impressive as ever.

"I think structurally — it's the disguise," tight end Durham Smythe said after practice Tuesday. "The secondary obviously does a great job — a lot of smart guys in our secondary and with Vic's defense. They can disguise things until the last second.

"What that does for us in the middle of the field [on offense] is number three receivers, tight ends, slot receivers, you're looking at the safeties after the snap and you're having to change your route five, 10 yards down the field. So that can definitely get confusing at times."

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It's a good thing for the Dolphins' passing attack, which struggled at times when Tagovailoa appeared unfamiliar with the concepts he faced on defense. By facing a complex defense every day at practice, he should be more prepared for the coming season. Maybe he'll be able to handle the kitchen sink when an opposing defensive coordinator throws it at him.

Fangio's job — of course — isn't to worry about bringing out the best in head coach Mike McDaniel's offense. Fangio is focused on helping his stars shine while developing the other members of the defense into stars. Whether the Dolphins did this intentionally or not, they are modeling after what the Rams did by combining Sean McVay, a young offensive head coach, with Wade Phillips, an older defensive coordinator. The Rams got a Super Bowl out of that model. Miami wants the same thing.

"This is an entirely different scheme so it's completely different. It's like a whole 180 change, basically," safety Jevon Holland said.

That's surely why Fangio has been incredibly hands-on since joining Miami.

"Just the way he breaks down every detail in his scheme," linebacker Duke Riley told reporters. "I've been around a lot of coaches and I can say he's one of the smartest guys on defense that I've been around. I personally have learned so much from him within a few months that's going to help my game. … He's able to break things down to a different level because he sees it from so many different angles and so many different guys and teams and schemes. I think he's great for us."

One player who seems to be benefiting most is cornerback Noah Igbinoghene. In a way, he exemplified the shortcomings of the previous scheme. Igbinoghene struggled on an island in Miami's concepts where they were often in man coverage. In that system, there was no hiding Igbinoghene — or his developmental struggles. So the first-round pick drew tremendous criticism for falling short of expectations.

But, perhaps, Igbinoghene will get a shot at redemption in 2023 when his season could also be emblematic of Fangio's inventive system. As the team strives to improve drastically on defense, Igbinoghene's career could take the same upturn.

"I love this scheme. It's very complex and it allows … people's actual abilities to really come out, their gifts to come out," Igbinoghene said on July 28. "I feel like that's really been beneficial to me. My speed, my agility, my quickness has really been able to show. And like playing off and pressing versus the last couple systems, it was just really pressing and really man. Now we get to play zone a little bit, play off, have vision.

"I see why this defense was very successful because it's very complex. It confuses the offense and now we're able to really run different coverages that look the same. And it allows our players on the outside — our safeties, our linebackers, our D-line — to really make plays in different types of ways than what we had before."

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For any defense, a complex scheme generally requires players to be both smart and versatile. There are sacrifices that come with disguises, whether it's intentionally placing a defensive back in the incorrect position or giving that player a surprising assignment. The big risks can backfire.

But this Dolphins defense is not short on talent or athleticism, whether it's at the safety position, where Holland has Pro Bowl-caliber talent, or at cornerback, where Xavien Howard has been one of the league's best, or on the defensive line, where Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips comprise the most underrated 1-2 punch of edge players.

Speaking of those edge players, they each have had a unique transition into this system. For Chubb, it's actually not a transition at all. He played under Fangio in Denver for three years.

"He's a mastermind. He's got a lot up his sleeve and I'm excited to see where it goes," Chubb said. "I'm kind of like another coach out there. Guys coming up asking me questions. … It's dope to be another set of eyes and ears for those guys and kind of holding myself to a bigger standard because I'm in it, I know it and I want to know more of it."

Phillips is among those players leaning on Chubb for pointers. But it's not like Phillips, who has 15.5 sacks in his first two NFL seasons, is uncomfortable. To the contrary.

"I think there's obviously a little bit of freedom within the constraints of our defense," Phillips said. "I think that's one really cool thing about this year is being able to use our athleticism and really just attack them in different ways. I would also say the same thing for our offense, too. Not that they can do whatever they want, but they're very multiple and so it gives us a lot of challenging looks and really trains our eyes."

Phillips hit on the exact issue that plagued the Dolphins last year. The defense wasn't up to par with the offense. Miami allowed 23.5 points per game (ninth-worst in NFL) while putting up 24.5 points per game (11th best).

Miami ended up in far too many shootouts. In the occasional game where the offense couldn't step up — generally the games when Tagovailoa was dealing with concussions and other injury issues — the defense couldn't be the driving force for a win.

That's where Fangio could potentially change things.

If the Dolphins defense can begin to have the same authority over a game — if they can, as Phillips said, do the same things as the offense — then this Dolphins team is a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Fangio is trying to change the scheme and, in turn, the way Miami wins games.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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