# Defensive Coaching Trees

Offensive trees decide how your skill players get used. Defensive trees matter in a different way for fantasy: they shape **which offenses sputter**, and how much a **team defense (DST)** is worth. Here are the families that define modern NFL defense.

## The Vic Fangio tree — light boxes and two deep safeties

This is the defense that took over the NFL in the early 2020s. **Vic Fangio** spent decades as a coordinator and a few years as the Broncos' head coach, and his system is now everywhere.

- **The style:** two-high safeties, a light box, very little blitzing, and heavy disguise — the same pre-snap picture hiding many different coverages. It takes away the deep ball and forces offenses to be patient and methodical.
- **What it means for fantasy:** Fangio defenses suppress explosive plays, so opposing receivers see fewer big games. They don't generate a ton of sacks or takeaways on their own, so the team-defense upside is modest unless there's an elite pass rush attached. They tend to funnel offenses into short throws to backs and tight ends.
- **Who runs it now:** Fangio himself coordinates the Eagles' defense (his unit was number one when Philadelphia won Super Bowl LIX). Disciples include Ejiro Evero in Carolina and Brandon Staley in New Orleans.

## The Wink Martindale tree — bring everybody

The opposite of Fangio. **Wink Martindale** built his name in Baltimore running the most aggressive defense in football.

- **The style:** blitz-heavy, man-coverage pressure. His Ravens blitzed more than any team in the league three years running.
- **What it means for fantasy:** boom-or-bust team defenses — more sacks and turnovers, but also more big plays given up. Man coverage can be torched by elite number-one receivers and by mobile quarterbacks who escape the rush. As of 2026 he's coaching in college (Michigan), so this is more a style than a deep, active NFL tree.

## The Steve Spagnuolo tree — exotic pressure

**Steve Spagnuolo** has been Kansas City's defensive coordinator since 2019 and is the only coordinator in NFL history with four Super Bowl rings.

- **The style:** disguised, simulated pressures and creative blitz designs, descended from the legendary Eagles blitz schemes of Jim Johnson.
- **What it means for fantasy:** sack and turnover upside for the Chiefs defense in good years, with some big-play risk attached.

## The Ravens / Mike Macdonald style — the new hybrid

**Mike Macdonald** came up in Baltimore under John Harbaugh and built a defense that blends Fangio's two-high ideas with aggressive, disguised pressure. His 2023 Ravens were the first defense ever to lead the league in points allowed, sacks, *and* takeaways. He's now the head coach in Seattle — and his defense carried the Seahawks to a Super Bowl LX win over New England in the 2025 season. A young, rising style worth watching.

## The Belichick defensive influence

The biggest defensive family of all runs through **Bill Belichick** — multiple fronts, situational game-planning, and "take away what you do best." Because it's so large and tied to his offense too, it has its own page: see the Belichick Coaching Tree.

## Where these trees are today (2026)

- Vic Fangio — Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator
- Steve Spagnuolo — Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Coordinator
- Ejiro Evero — Carolina Panthers Defensive Coordinator (Fangio branch)
- Brandon Staley — New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator (Fangio branch)
- Jonathan Gannon — Green Bay Packers Defensive Coordinator
- Vance Joseph — Denver Broncos Defensive Coordinator
- Mike Macdonald — Seattle Seahawks Head Coach (Ravens style)

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*Related: Coaching Trees · Belichick Coaching Tree · The West Coast Offense*

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Source: https://chatffb.com/concepts/defensive-coaching-trees · ChatFFB — fantasy football answers updated from a live news wiki.