The Unexpected Perk to a Possible Harbaugh-Vikings Relationship
Dustin Baker
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The Vikings world is percolating with Jim-Harbaugh-to-Vikings rumors. If all goes well for Harbaugh and new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Harbaugh could become Minnesota’s next skipper in a matter of days.
Harbaugh is a proven winner, tallying the fifth-best winning percentage in NFL history behind Guy Chamberlain, John Madden, Vince Lombardi, and George Allen. As a coach of the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons, Harbaugh won 70% of all football games. Not bad.
While Harbaugh in Minnesota would be a ginormous, unforeseen event in a standalone sense, don’t forget the defensive perk that could accompany him – Vic Fangio.
Fangio isn’t the sexiest thing in the universe right now as a head coaching commodity. His Broncos mired in mediocrity amid his three-year stint in Denver. But besides the Jacksonville Jaguars – they interviewed absolutely everybody – Fangio isn’t on the radar for HC-needy teams.
And that means a Harbaugh addition to the Vikings increases the likelihood Fangio would run his defense. You remember the one – Fangio’s defense guided the 49ers to three consecutive NFC Championships in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The man can coach a defense.
From 2011 to 2014, the 49ers ranked second in the NFL per EPA/play. That’s marvelous and even gives 2014-2019 Mike Zimmer a run for his money at defensive supremacy.
Adding Fangio to a theoretical Harbaugh-Vikings team is glorious, chiefly because the “Zimmer Standard” of defense wouldn’t drop with a transition to Fangio. Of course, Minnesota’s defense was stinky in 2020 and 2021, and that’s why Zimmer was terminated. In fairness to Zimmer, though, his defense was fantastic during his first six seasons with the Vikings.
Hiring Harbaugh would ensure the Vikings have an offense-first brain at the helm – Harbaugh was a quarterback in the NFL for 14 years – and Fangio could run the defensive side operations as he did in San Francisco. Think of the potential harmony and balance.
When Minnesota canned Zimmer, most believed the Vikings would embark on an offense-first era to cure the non-Super-Bowl-winning ills of the Zimmer years. After all, young offensive coaches like Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, and Zac Taylor are thriving as of late. A pivot to a youthful offensive guru would risk deprioritizing defense. And the Vikings had notorious nasty stretches of defense (the Culpepper Era and Frazier Era) throughout history. Nobody wants to go back to those unkind seasons.
But Fangio wouldn’t allow it. His Broncos didn’t take off in three years, yet the man can still coach a defense. Pairing Harbaugh and Fangio for a 49ers sequel is a possibility Vikings faithful didn’t predict a month ago.
With Adofo-Mensah shaking things up, however, the embracement of change could be grander than anyone imagined.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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