Chuck Pagano to Michigan Football’s Defensive Staff Makes Sense
Chuck Pagano could soon be fired by the Colts, and an offer is reportedly on the table for him to join the Michigan football defensive staff.
Black Monday in the NFL is always a good time. Fan bases get worked up about their teams’ coaches to the point where it’s funny, and those who severely underachieved are (usually) sent away to find another job.
Related Story: #HarbaughWale2020
The Indianapolis Colts could very well be on the verge of firing head coach Chuck Pagano after an 8-8 season that will have the Colts sitting home for the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
According to Rivals’ Michael Spath, Jim Harbaugh has jumped on this possible opportunity by offering Pagano a spot on his Michigan staff as a “defensive consultant.”
First of all, this makes plenty of sense because of the ties Pagano has to current coaches and players at Michigan. Second, Pagano has proven throughout his coaching career that when he’s focusing on just the defense, he can build some pretty good ones.
Pagano roamed around the college game for 23 years before heading to the NFL as the Baltimore Ravens’ secondary coach in 2008, working under John Harbaugh and alongside Greg Mattison. When Mattison left to become Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2011, Pagano was promoted to fill the position until he left to coach the Colts a season later.
Four-star linebacker/defensive end Carlo Kemp, who’s enrolled early at Michigan, is also the nephew of Pagano.
Looking back through Pagano’s career, it’s easy to see where Harbaugh felt compelled to offer him a spot on his defensive staff.
Pagano’s most impressive stop at the college level was at Miami (FL) from 1995-2000 as the secondary coach. During that time he recruited and coached four first-round NFL Draft picks, and in his final season with the Hurricans, his secondary was named the country’s best by College Football News.
In 1999 his secondary didn’t allow a passing touchdown through the final 27 quarters of the season. Pagano also coordinated the special teams during that time; Miami blocked 39 kicks in 59 games.
In 2001, as the secondary coach of the Cleveland Browns, Pagano’s unit tied a franchise record by allowing only 13 passing touchdowns all season. The secondary accounted for 28 of the team’s league-high 33 interceptions.
As the Oakland Raiders’ defensive backs coach in 2006, Pagano saw his pass defense surrender a league-best 151 yards per game.
During his only single as the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, Pagano’s defense ranked No. 2 in rushing yards allowed and No. 3 in both points allowed and yards allowed. The Ravens also finished No. 13 in takeaways.
Pagano’s Colts defenses were never particularly great, but in 2014 Indianapolis did rank No. 11 in total defense and No. 12 in passing yards allowed per game.
Pagano’s impressive record speaks for itself. Don’t let this last season in Indianapolis fool you about what his defenses have been doing for the last couple decades.
More wolverines: Hoops: Mark Donnal is the answer
It’s being reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Pagano and Colts owner Jim Irsay will be meeting this afternoon. If he leaves that meeting without a job, expect him to shop the market, but if there isn’t anything there that makes sense for him, Pagano has a strong prerogative to join Michigan’s staff, and the Wolverines would be lucky to have him.