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Rainer Sabin / Reporter
The birthplace of the zone blitz was believed to be in the USFL, somewhere along the Interstate 95 corridor. That was where the now-defunct Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars played and where two well-known football coaches, Dom Capers and Vic Fangio, were assistants. The careers of Fangio and Capers, Green Bay's defensive coordinator, have been intertwined ever since. Fangio has worked alongside Capers and underneath him.
So it is no surprise that decades later, both men have been mentioned in connection with the Cowboys' defensive coordinator position that appears to be available. After all, they share the same philosophy, which Cowboys coach Jason Garrett seems eager for the Cowboys' defense to adopt.
Like Capers, Fangio likes to apply pressure to the quarterback from all directions. And he has plenty of experience calling blitzes. Fangio, who interviewed on Monday with the Cowboys, served as an NFL assistant for 24 years before becoming Stanford's defensive coordinator this past season.
But it was during his time in Carolina, between 1995 and 1998, that he earned the respect of his peers around the league for his aggressive tactics while using a 3-4 base defense, an alignment featured by only four teams in 1996.
"I don't think I'm a risk-taker, but I would say I'm an educated gambler," Fangio told the Charlotte Observer in 1996. "I want to know what the risks are and what the rewards are before I do something. I need to be convinced the rewards are high and the risk is worth taking."
Many times Fangio has resorted to unconventional strategies. During a 50-play stretch in a 1995 game against the Indianapolis Colts, he ordered the Panthers to blitz 48 times. Carolina eventually won, 13-10, and recorded seven sacks.
But Fangio's willingness to push the envelope hasn't always been well-received. In his final year as defensive coordinator for the Colts in 2001, Indianapolis allowed more points than any other team in the NFL. Colts general manager Bill Polian pinned the blame on Fangio, whose schemes, he said, were too complex for a team composed of players with little experience.
"That absolutely holds no validity," Fangio told the Houston Chronicle in January 2002. "We've played a lot of young players in all my years as a coordinator in Carolina and Indianapolis. To say it was too hard or wasn't simple enough for them to comprehend really holds no validity. It was not a problem, other than it does take time for people to learn any system."
Because the Cowboys have a fundamental understanding of the 3-4 defense, Fangio's concepts shouldn't be too difficult to digest if he were to be hired. After all, the main objective of Fangio's strategy is easy to comprehend: Attack the quarterback.
And the Cowboys have been trying to that, with varying degrees of success, the last four seasons.
The birthplace of the zone blitz was believed to be in the USFL, somewhere along the Interstate 95 corridor. That was where the now-defunct Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars played and where two well-known football coaches, Dom Capers and Vic Fangio, were assistants. The careers of Fangio and Capers, Green Bay's defensive coordinator, have been intertwined ever since. Fangio has worked alongside Capers and underneath him.
So it is no surprise that decades later, both men have been mentioned in connection with the Cowboys' defensive coordinator position that appears to be available. After all, they share the same philosophy, which Cowboys coach Jason Garrett seems eager for the Cowboys' defense to adopt.
Like Capers, Fangio likes to apply pressure to the quarterback from all directions. And he has plenty of experience calling blitzes. Fangio, who interviewed on Monday with the Cowboys, served as an NFL assistant for 24 years before becoming Stanford's defensive coordinator this past season.
But it was during his time in Carolina, between 1995 and 1998, that he earned the respect of his peers around the league for his aggressive tactics while using a 3-4 base defense, an alignment featured by only four teams in 1996.
"I don't think I'm a risk-taker, but I would say I'm an educated gambler," Fangio told the Charlotte Observer in 1996. "I want to know what the risks are and what the rewards are before I do something. I need to be convinced the rewards are high and the risk is worth taking."
Many times Fangio has resorted to unconventional strategies. During a 50-play stretch in a 1995 game against the Indianapolis Colts, he ordered the Panthers to blitz 48 times. Carolina eventually won, 13-10, and recorded seven sacks.
But Fangio's willingness to push the envelope hasn't always been well-received. In his final year as defensive coordinator for the Colts in 2001, Indianapolis allowed more points than any other team in the NFL. Colts general manager Bill Polian pinned the blame on Fangio, whose schemes, he said, were too complex for a team composed of players with little experience.
"That absolutely holds no validity," Fangio told the Houston Chronicle in January 2002. "We've played a lot of young players in all my years as a coordinator in Carolina and Indianapolis. To say it was too hard or wasn't simple enough for them to comprehend really holds no validity. It was not a problem, other than it does take time for people to learn any system."
Because the Cowboys have a fundamental understanding of the 3-4 defense, Fangio's concepts shouldn't be too difficult to digest if he were to be hired. After all, the main objective of Fangio's strategy is easy to comprehend: Attack the quarterback.
And the Cowboys have been trying to that, with varying degrees of success, the last four seasons.
