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According to Mike Preston and Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun, the Baltimore Ravens are making an attempt to bring former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano in as defensive coordinator. Current defensive coordinator Dean Pees informed the team that he will be retiring, leaving a vacancy at the position that Pagano once held.
Two top guys to keep an eye on in Ravens search for new D-coordinator are Chuck Pagano and Vic Fanzio.
— Mike Preston (@MikePrestonSun) January 1, 2018
The Ravens have spoken to former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, trying to lure him back to Baltimore to be the defensive coordinator, per colleague @MikePrestonSun. Ravens have other options, but he appears to be their focus at this point.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiecsun) January 2, 2018
In Chuck Pagano's lone year as Ravens DC:
— Ravens Nation (@LIVERavenNation) January 2, 2018
•3rd overall
•4th vs pass
•2nd vs run
•T-2nd sacks
•3rd PPG
This year with Dean Pees:
•12 overall
•10 vs pass
•15 vs run
•11 in sacks
•6 in PPG#HirePagano
Before becoming the Colts’ head coach in 2012, Pagano coached in Baltimore as the secondary coach from 2008-’10 and then as the defensive coordinator in 2011. As the tweet above from Ravens Nation indicates, they were quite good in Pagano’s lone year as coordinator. They had a lot of really good players, even winning the Super Bowl the following year, but coaching does make a difference.
The Colts brought Pagano on in part to fix an ailing defense. That never really happened, as the Colts never finished better than 11th in total defense in Pagano’s six years as head coach. Outside of that 2014 season, the Colts finished 26th, 20th, 26th, 30th and 30th.
Things didn’t work out for Pagano in Indianapolis as the head man in charge, but he may be better suited as a coordinator. That way, he can focus in on one side of the ball and not have all of the distractions that come with being in charge of the entire roster.