It appears the Chicago Bears will be able to keep a highly regarded defensive coach in town as new head coach Matt Nagy begins to assemble his staff in the Windy City.
The Bears are likely going to be able to keep Vic Fangio as the team’s defensive coordinator, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
Fangio’s contract with the Bears expired on Tuesday after spending the last three seasons on John Fox’s staff. Fox was relieved of his duties by the Bears last week before Nagy, the former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator, was hired as the team’s new head coach on Tuesday.
Fangio has a strong track record defensively going back to his time with the San Francisco 49ers under Jim Harbaugh. The 49ers’ defenses were always one of the most formidable in the league with Justin Smith, NaVorro Bowman, Patrick Willis and Ahmad Brooks as influential pieces.
While Fangio doesn’t have that level of star power on the defensive side of the ball in Chicago, he managed to turn the Bears into a top ten defense in 2017 despite an offense that was breaking in a rookie quarterback and struggling for consistency. Keeping Fangio in town will be a nice start to Nagy’s new staff.