Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, a familiar Bears name, weighs stepping away from a legendary coaching career. Will he hang up the whistle?
A coach that Chicago Bears fans are familiar with is looking at potentially hanging up the whistle.
The Bears aren't the only ones looking for more assistants for the 2026 season. The Philadelphia Eagles are having a similar problem. The Eagles have already parted ways with offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
Patullo was fired after one season with the organization. Former Bears OC Declan Doyle was interviewed for the OC job, but withdrew his name from consideration. Doyle then accepted the OC position at the Baltimore Ravens.
Now, it looks like Philadelphia may be in the market for a defensive coordinator in the near future.
According to NBC Sports' John Clark, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is considering retirement. Fangio has been the Eagles' DC for the last two seasons. Clark shared that the Eagles have considered Cleveland Browns assistant Jim Schwartz and Jonathan Gannon.
However, Gannon has agreed to become the next DC of the Green Bay Packers for the 2026 season.
He was the DC for the Bears from 2015-18. His best year with the Bears was in 2018, as the defense ranked inside the top five in rush defense, yards allowed, points allowed and takeaways.
Fangio has been coaching in the NFL since 1986.
He's held coaching roles with the New Orleans Saints (1986-1994) Carolina Panthers (1995-98), Indianapolis Colts (1999-2001), Houston Texans (2002-05), Ravens (2006-2009) San Francisco 49ers (2011-14), Bears (2015-18), Denver Broncos (2019-2021), Miami Dolphins (2023) and Eagles (2024-25).
Fangio has even had a stint as a head coach in the NFL. He was the head coach of the Broncos from 2019-2021. Things didn't go very well for him, as the Broncos finished with a losing record each season he was in charge.
The Bears have had their fair share of assistants on the move this offseason.
Eric Bieniemy left his role as running backs coach to join the Kansas City Chiefs as OC.
Defensive backs coach Al Harris has been linked to a couple of different openings. He first interviewed with the Packers for the DC job that Gannon was hired for.
Then, Harris was reported to be the frontrunner for the same role with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Harris played for newly-hired head coach Mike McCarthy at the Packers from 2006-09.
However, Pittsburgh hired former Las Vegas Raiders DC Patrick Graham instead.
Fangio has had one heck of a career as a coach in the NFL. We'll see whether he's ready to retire from the sport.