Fangio isn't divulging differences between coaching Harbaughs

SANTA CLARA -- Vic Fangio is uniquely qualified to compare and contrast the NFL coaches who will make history Thursday night as the first brothers to face each other when the 49ers meet the Baltimore Ravens.Fangio, the longtime NFL assistant coach, had never met the Harbaughs before John Harbaugh retained him on the Ravens coaching staff in 2008. After two seasons with John Harbaugh, Fangio moved cross country to join Jim Harbaugh's Stanford staff as defensive coordinator.
"I'm probably the person that has the most perspective on that because I was with John his first two years in Baltimore and worked closely with him there in his first head-coaching job," said Fangio, who is currently the 49ers' defensive coordinator."And, obviously, I've been with Jim last year at Stanford and the transition coming over to here and everything that's involved with that."Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh were born 17 months apart and had a coach, Jack Harbaugh, as their father. But they are not exactly carbon copies, Fangio said.RELATED: The Har-Bowl page
"And I would say about 30 percent of them is similar, being that they're from the same family, same parents and all that," Fangio said. "But 70 percent of them are very different. They're two very different individuals, two very different, in most cases."And how, exactly, are they different?"That's top secret," Fangio said. "That's my information and I'm keeping it to myself."Fangio already had an extensive NFL resume when he joined the Ravens in 2006 as defensive special assistant to head coach Brian Billick. Fangio worked on both sides of the ball while with the Ravens. He was one of the lead voice in the booth to assist Billick with replay challenges."(I) basically did a lot of work with the coaches, both sides of the ball, and worked with the head coach in helping him do his duties particularly during the game," Fangio said."It was really a great experience for me. It really was, working both sides of the ball and getting a better, full perspective of everything. It's something that I would recommend for everybody to do if they could."It was that kind of perspective that helped Fangio formulate his philosophy last week as he devised a game play against Arizona Cardinals second-year quarterback John Skelton. The 49ers chose to play coverage the entire game against Skelton and Richard Bartel. Not once did he call for a defense that sent more than four pass-rushers at the Cardinals' quarterbacks.REWIND: 49ers never blitzed Cardinals
"A lot of people think when you play a young quarterback you should go after him, send the kitchen sink," Fangio said. "But many times that makes his job easier because if he sees pressure, he can throw somewhere to where he's got a one-on-one matchup."Sometimes against a young quarterback, it's good to make him be a quarterback, drop back there, read his coverage, find an open receiver, go through his progression. I think that's tougher on a young quarterback in some instances, and that's the approach I took that past game."The plan figures to be different Thanksgiving night against Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and his explosive surrounding cast that includes running back Ray Rice, and receivers Lee Evans, Anquan Boldin and rookie Torrey Smith."They have a really explosive and dynamic personnel group," Fangio said. "I think it's probably the best offensive skill position personnel that the Ravens have ever had since they moved to Baltimore."