Chuck Pagano

Charles D. "Chuck" Pagano (born October 2, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL), a position he assumed in January 2012. Pagano has previously served as the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens in 2011. He is the brother of San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano.

College career
Pagano's coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Southern California from 1984 to 1985 before a parallel move to University of Miami in 1986. He was outside linebackers coach at Boise State from 1987 to 1988, then coached defensive backs at East Carolina and UNLV in 1989 and 1990, respectively. By 1991, Pagano had been promoted to defensive coordinator for UNLV, but returned to East Carolina to coach defensive backs and outside linebackers a year later.

Pagano first linked with Butch Davis in 1995, returning to the University of Miami to coach the secondary and coordinate special teams. In his five years there, he recruited and coached four first round NFL draft picks, and during the 2000 season, his secondary was named the nation's best by College Football News. His defensive backs did not allow a passing touchdown over the last 27 quarters of the 1999 season. Miami also blocked 39 kicks in 59 games, including a school record 12 blocks in 1996.

At the end of the 2006 season, Pagano rejoined Davis following his appointment as head coach of North Carolina. In his first and only season, they finished with a record of 4-8, but were narrowly beaten by less than seven points in six of those games.

NFL
In 2001, Pagano joined Davis in the NFL as secondary coach for the Cleveland Browns. In 2003, he helped the Browns tie a franchise record for the fewest passing touchdowns allowed with 13. In 2001, the secondary accounted for 28 of the Browns' NFL-high 33 interceptions, and, in the same season, rookie cornerback Anthony Henry led the league with ten interceptions.

After leaving Cleveland in 2004, Pagano spent two seasons as the defensive backs coach of the Oakland Raiders. In 2006, the Raiders' pass defensive allowed just 151 yards per game, and total defense just 285. This ranked them first and third in the league, respectively.

Pagano was named to John Harbaugh's initial coaching staff with the Baltimore Ravens on February 12, 2008. He served as defensive secondary coach for three seasons. He was promoted to Defensive Coordinator on January 18, 2011, succeeding Greg Mattison who accepted a similar position at the University of Michigan. Pagano's defense finished 3rd in both points allowed and in yards allowed. They finished 13 in takeaways and 2nd Rush yards allowed, but Baltimore's defense has always been known for its ability to stop the run. Pagano drastically improved the pass defense going from 21 in passing yards allowed to 4th. They improved from 9th in passing touchdowns allowed to 1st in the league. The defense also came away with 17 interceptions. Pagano is known for his ability in secondary and ability to stop opposing teams pass attack.

On January 25, 2012, Pagano was named the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

Personal
Pagano was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in September 2012, and took an indefinite leave of absence of his coaching duties. He then underwent three months of treatment at the IU Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis. On November 5, doctors announced that Pagano's cancer is in remission. To support Pagano, two dozen of the Colts players, and two of their cheerleaders, shaved their heads as part of a movement to support Pagano known as "CHUCKSTRONG". Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians led the Colts during the next 12 games. Pagano returned to his head coaching duties on December 24, 2012.

Head coaching record
* Chuck Pagano only coached four regular season games as he recovered from cancer however, Pagano returned for the playoffs.