Chuck Pagano

Charles David Pagano (born October 2, 1960) is an American football coach who is the senior defensive assistant and secondary coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012 to 2017. Pagano previously served as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens in 2011, of the Chicago Bears from 2019 to 2020, and was an assistant coach for the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns. Pagano retired from coaching in 2021, but returned starting in the 2025 season. He is the older brother of coach John Pagano.

Pagano was a three-year letterman and two-year starter at strong safety at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado. Collegiately, Pagano was a four-year letterman and four-year starter at strong safety at Wyoming and graduated with a degree in marketing in 1984.

Pagano's coaching career began as a graduate assistant at the University of Southern California (USC) from 1984 to 1985 before a parallel move to University of Miami in 1986. He was outside linebackers coach at Boise State University from 1987 to 1988, then coached defensive backs at East Carolina University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1989 and 1990, respectively. By 1991, Pagano had been promoted to defensive coordinator for UNLV, but left the team midway through the season and 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.

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 allowed just 151 passing yards per game and 285 total yards per game. 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. That year, Pagano's defense finished third in both points allowed and in yards allowed; they also finished 13th in takeaways and second in rushing yards allowed, the latter of which came to little surprise as Baltimore's defense has always been known for its ability to stop the run. However, Pagano drastically improved the pass defense, going from 21st in passing yards allowed to 4th; they also improved from ninth in passing touchdowns allowed to first in the league. The defense also came away with 17 interceptions. Pagano is known for his ability to stop opposing teams' pass attacks.