According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco 49ers were interested in bringing Vic Fangio back as the team's defensive coordinator. However, Fangio is currently under contract with the Chicago Bears and his current team has blocked the move.
Hearing #49ers were interested in bringing Vic Fangio back to Bay Area as DC, but he's under contract in Chicago and Bears blocked move.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) January 20, 2017
It is unknown how interested Fangio was in returning to the 49ers, who will likely have current Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan as their new head coach once his playoff run is complete.
Fangio was the 49ers' defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh from 2011 through 2014. After Harbaugh and the 49ers parted ways, Fangio left for Chicago. The 49ers defense never ranked worse than fifth in the league under Fangio. The Bears defense has ranked 14th and 15th in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Fangio was one of two internal coaches that were interviewed for the head coaching job following the 2014 season. The job ultimately went to the other internal candidate, Jim Tomsula, who worked under Fangio as the defensive line coach.
The 49ers were also interested in former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley as their defensive coordinator. However, Bradley was only interested in the job if Seattle Seahawks assistant head coach and offensive line coach Tom Cable had been named the head coach.
The 49ers attempted to convince Bradley to join the team after it became known that Cable would not be the next head coach, but he declined. Bradley is in the running as the defensive coordinator for several NFL teams.