The Miami Dolphins have undergone some big changes this offseason, not the least of which has been Anthony Weaver replacing Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator. One key Dolphins defender appears thrilled with the move.
Dolphins safety Jevon Holland called Weaver taking over at DC “a complete 180” from his experience with Fangio, raving about how Weaver relates to the players.
“Weave is super dope, man, like as a person, as an ex-player, as a coach,” Holland told reporters on Tuesday, per Pro Football Network. “You can just feel he understands where we’re coming from, wants to hear us and our input on the defense and then is able to put that into how the defense is called and how the defense is taught.
“He’s great, man. He’s really like a dope, solid dude.”
Weaver, 43, left the Baltimore Ravens’ staff this offseason to replace Fangio. Weaver played seven years in the NFL with the Ravens and Houston Texans and started his pro coaching career in 2012 with the New York Jets.
Asked Tuesday what the biggest difference is with Weaver, compared to Fangio, and whether being a former player helped Dolphins defenders relate to him, Holland said, via NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe: “It’s the fact that (Weaver is) a good person that makes a difference.”
Interpret that how you will.
Fangio, 65, and the Dolphins mutually parted ways on Jan. 24 after his one tumultuous season in Miami that saw his team’s defense fade badly down the stretch, especially in a Week 17 blowout at the Baltimore Ravens. Fangio had a new job one day later, however, when he took the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator position.
Recently, Fangio — who grew up not far from Philadelphia — said he hoped to finish his career with the Eagles. Asked in early May if reportedly distant relationships with his former Dolphins players led to some of the failures in Miami, Fangio downplayed that idea.
“I didn’t see that at all, really,” Fangio said at the time. “Anything we do, whether there, here, or anywhere else I’ve been, is what we think is the best for the team and best for the defense, specifically, to stop somebody. Wherever that falls, that’s where it falls.”
Fangio and the Eagles appeared destined to be a match for the same position one year ago, but former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon had yet to take the Arizona Cardinals’ head-coaching job and Fangio accepted an offer from Miami.
And just as Fangio’s Miami experiment didn’t work out, Philadelphia’s Plan B fizzled. The Eagles instead pivoted to hire Sean Desai (a former Fangio assistant) last year, but he was stripped of play-calling duties prior to the end of the season and left Philadelphia this offseason to take a job on the Los Angeles Rams’ staff.
Now both the Dolphins and Eagles appear to be happy with how it worked out, with Fangio finally in Philly, albeit a year late.
