Bears hire Chuck Pagano to be Defensive Coordinator

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mmmc_35
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That 2011 Baltimore team was pretty damn good.

Suggs 2011 highlights
https://youtu.be/EXhCK0MkleM
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Umbali
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Well, he should have to learn our terminology etc..why teach the whole D when you can just make the coach learn? :P

Hope it works out
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I wonder where Donatell lands and how he answered the question when he interviewed with the Bears.. If he gave any indication about DC or gone..
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KOP_Snake wrote:Not gonna lie, my only thought was "Oh good I've heard of him."
I can see that thought. I feel somewhat the same. I'm good with it.
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His players rave about him so I think, even if our defensive guys are a little weary of losing Fangio, he should win them over quickly.

Dude can turn on the 2011 Ravens tape, as mmmc mentioned above, and get their attention. I'm excited... I think we're going to be more aggressive on that side of the ball, which means more sacks/hits but may cost us some big plays on the back-end.

Mack = Suggs
Smith = Lewis
Jackson = Reed

Too soon? Wouldn't that be something :D
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"Chuck is unorthodox," Suggs said. "He's like the Joker. You never really expect what he's going to do, and everything has a motive."

The Ravens considered Pagano to be just one of the guys.

"What makes him good? He relates to the players a whole lot," defensive end Cory Redding said. "He's almost like a player in a D-coordinator's position. The guy has so much fun with us. He treats you like more than a player. It's like we're his sons. He wants us to do well. He keeps it fresh. He knows everybody's strengths and puts them in position to make plays."
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Pagano's style is more aggressive, something he's never tried to hide. In the press conference that introduced him as defensive coordinator, Pagano said, "My philosophy is: let's go out and wreak havoc."
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Good read: https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/rav ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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G08 wrote:Good read: https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/rav ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Darned good read! I especially liked this part ...

“Pagano's style is more aggressive, something he's never tried to hide. In the press conference that introduced him as defensive coordinator, Pagano said, "My philosophy is: let's go out and wreak havoc."

"That's our personality. We constantly want to keep coming after people," linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "If we make a mistake, we want it to be on our backs and not the fact that we laid back. We want to constantly be bringing heat."

Last week against Kansas City, the Ravens finished with five sacks and nine quarterback hits for a total of 14 shots on the quarterback.

The number of hits is a little surprising considering the Chiefs tried to protect their quarterbacks with three-step drops and quick screens. It could also be a little scary considering the Ravens have only scratched the surface of their playbook.

"Chuck is a madman," Foxworth said. "It's going to be some really interesting things that you're going to see happening. It's going to require a great deal of dedication mentally from our guys to keep up with the complex things. We have a lot of situations where guys are doing jobs where they wouldn't normally be doing them. It helps disguise a defense and helps to get us more sacks, which seems to be the big focus of what Chuck wants to do.”


Yeah — that works for me. Thanks for finding and sharing this.
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I’m relieved. This feels like a good fit.


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KOP_Snake wrote:Not gonna lie, my only thought was "Oh good I've heard of him."

I know he had a battle with cancer, and that's why Arians was interim head coach and led to his job with the Cardinals.
That was the only good year the Colts had while he was there, is when he was gone with Cancer.
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Pagano was also my "on deck" guy following Donatell.

I'm gonna guess that A) Donatell would not commit before considering Denver, and B) Pace was not willing to delay a decision for that and risk losing Pagano.

Can't say that I blame Donatell. He and Vic have coached together for quite awhile and have had much success as a duo so why wouldn't he want to keep that relationship intact. I may be wrong but I'm thinking the DC job in Denver is his provided he passes Elway's muster.

Pagano has been an excellent secondary coach himself so in that regard we have a guy who can somewhat replace Donatell's influence and we seem to be sticking with Italians as well. LOL

I like the hire.
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I'm not sure what to think of this right now. He did some great things Baltimore that year. I don't think Indy had the players to field a great defense to begin with so I'm not sure how much he's to blame for their performance.

Hopefully he comes in here and we don't lose a step. With our schedule next year we're going to need all the help we can get.
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Just woke up to the news here in the UK. Relieved that the Bears have pulled the trigger rather than play the risky waiting game with teams still alive in the playoffs. Obviously I'd love to have kept Vic, but having read the bio on Pagano on the Bears app, I'm pretty happy. Sounds like a really good fit.
I cannot imagine how excited he must be to get to play with his new toys! But how frustrating to have to wait a few months to get the key to the toy cupboard!
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The Marshall Plan wrote:I'm not sure what to think of this right now. He did some great things Baltimore that year. I don't think Indy had the players to field a great defense to begin with so I'm not sure how much he's to blame for their performance.

Hopefully he comes in here and we don't lose a step. With our schedule next year we're going to need all the help we can get.
I get what you're saying and sure, the Bears will have a 1st place schedule next year. But judging next year's schedule against last year's is always a misleading business. So much can change in free agency and the draft and with coaching moves. Top teams from one year can have a drop off in the next - GB and Minny for example. And teams that have been in 4th place for 4 years can rise up and win the division with a 12-4 record! Hehe! :)

The Bears finishing in 1st place only affects 6 of the 16 games in next year's schedule anyway. They would face the NFCN and AFCW in any event. The only difference is that they'll play the top teams in the other NFC divisions.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the Bears take on the stronger teams next season. Roll on September!
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Thanks for that read. I only really know him from his HC past. Sounds like it might be a smooth transfer
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Umbali wrote:Well, he should have to learn our terminology etc..why teach the whole D when you can just make the coach learn? :P

Hope it works out
Disagree

He’s the DC, trust him to do his thing. Asking the coach to come in and “fit in” is what got Mel Tucker into trouble. He was running half of his D and half of Lovies. Nobody was on the same page.
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Well I got too much going on to dig into this too much, but Chuck took over the Raven's Superbowl defense that was compared to the Bears '85 team for greatness. While it was still very good the following year, there were some areas that the team slipped. One was turnover margin. Bal went from 1st overall in '00 to 23rd in '01. Now was that from the offense fumbling and throwing INT's way more, or the defense just not getting the TO's it did the year before? Our team feasted off TO's this year and a major drop will make us look closer to average, especially against the schedule we have in 2019.
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cblaz11 wrote:
Umbali wrote:Well, he should have to learn our terminology etc..why teach the whole D when you can just make the coach learn? :P

Hope it works out
Disagree

He’s the DC, trust him to do his thing. Asking the coach to come in and “fit in” is what got Mel Tucker into trouble. He was running half of his D and half of Lovies. Nobody was on the same page.
Good coordinators don't come into the #1 defense and change a bunch of shit just to stroke their ego. Chuck is considered a players' coach, so I don't expect him to muck up too much. But almost every defense will change their calls from year to year (and game to game for divisional opponents), or teams will know what the defense is adjusting to and where the blitz is coming from. The oly calls that stay the same are the Payton Manning "Omaha" dummy calls.
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I'm kinda warming to this selection, but more so as a relief that we didn't take one of the Ryan's. I don't really have a good feel of how to evaluate this one. The year in Baltimore was nice, but their coaches and players tend to do less well when they leave. In Indy he didn't have the defensive talent to work with, so it is hard to really evaluate. My biggest concern with this hire though is Pagano's ambitions or loyalties. One great way to fuck up Nagy's tenure is to waste the defensive talent by having our DC leave every year to become an HC, and never let the D side grow in system continuity, and constantly have those players in emotional flux. It would be the reverse of the OC carousel that characterized Lovie's years. I've a bad feeling Pagano is just using us as a stepping stone and next year we are right back in this spot.
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Atkins&Rebel wrote:
cblaz11 wrote:
Umbali wrote:Well, he should have to learn our terminology etc..why teach the whole D when you can just make the coach learn? :P

Hope it works out
Disagree

He’s the DC, trust him to do his thing. Asking the coach to come in and “fit in” is what got Mel Tucker into trouble. He was running half of his D and half of Lovies. Nobody was on the same page.
Good coordinators don't come into the #1 defense and change a bunch of shit just to stroke their ego. Chuck is considered a players' coach, so I don't expect him to muck up too much. But almost every defense will change their calls from year to year (and game to game for divisional opponents), or teams will know what the defense is adjusting to and where the blitz is coming from. The oly calls that stay the same are the Payton Manning "Omaha" dummy calls.
I agree in the fact that you should identify what players had success doing what and you try to keep them in similar roles. That said, you get into trouble if you tell a coach to run someone else’s defense.

Fangio was great at disguising his coverages just enough to give the front 4 an extra second to get to the QB. He was also great at very rarely allowing plays over the top. They kept everything in front of them. When you have a more aggressive defense, that opens you up to big plays. In today’s NFL, I want Vics style over a blitz heavy D. I’m hoping Pagano agrees.

Rely on 4 man pass rush with occasional blitz

Preach keeping everything in front

Preach all 11 guys swarming to the ball

Flip coverages to ensure QB is always unsure
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cblaz11 wrote:
Atkins&Rebel wrote:
cblaz11 wrote:
Umbali wrote:Well, he should have to learn our terminology etc..why teach the whole D when you can just make the coach learn? :P

Hope it works out
Disagree

He’s the DC, trust him to do his thing. Asking the coach to come in and “fit in” is what got Mel Tucker into trouble. He was running half of his D and half of Lovies. Nobody was on the same page.
Good coordinators don't come into the #1 defense and change a bunch of shit just to stroke their ego. Chuck is considered a players' coach, so I don't expect him to muck up too much. But almost every defense will change their calls from year to year (and game to game for divisional opponents), or teams will know what the defense is adjusting to and where the blitz is coming from. The oly calls that stay the same are the Payton Manning "Omaha" dummy calls.
I agree in the fact that you should identify what players had success doing and you try to keep them in similar roles. That said, you get into trouble if you tell a coach to run someone else’s defense.

Fangio was great at disguising his coverages just enough to give the front 4 an extra second to get to the QB. He was also great at very rarely allowing plays over the top. They kept everything in front of them. When you have a more aggressive defense, that opens you up to big plays. In today’s NFL, I want Vics style over a blitz heavy D. I’m hoping Pagano agrees.

Rely on 4 man pass rush with occasional blitz

Preach keeping everything in front

Preach all 11 guys swarming to the ball

Flip coverages to ensure QB is always unsure
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cblaz11 wrote:
Umbali wrote:Well, he should have to learn our terminology etc..why teach the whole D when you can just make the coach learn? :P

Hope it works out
Disagree

He’s the DC, trust him to do his thing. Asking the coach to come in and “fit in” is what got Mel Tucker into trouble. He was running half of his D and half of Lovies. Nobody was on the same page.
I was being facetious....my little :P didnt do its job i guess lol
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He's only been a defensive coordinator for one year, how can you guys be so confident he's a defensive genius ? I just don't get it.
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VA_Mountain_Bear wrote: My biggest concern with this hire though is Pagano's ambitions or loyalties. One great way to fuck up Nagy's tenure is to waste the defensive talent by having our DC leave every year to become an HC, and never let the D side grow in system continuity, and constantly have those players in emotional flux. It would be the reverse of the OC carousel that characterized Lovie's years. I've a bad feeling Pagano is just using us as a stepping stone and next year we are right back in this spot.
These are my thoughts exactly. On the one hand I love the hire. Great guy, players love him, aggressive and successful as DC - everything we want. The perfect choice.

On the other hand, this feels like a one year rental. He actually had a lot of success as the Colts HC and once he proves what he can do with talent on his side of the ball he'll probably be a top candidate for the 7 or 8 head coaching positions that open up in 2020.
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Mr.Irrelevant wrote:
VA_Mountain_Bear wrote: My biggest concern with this hire though is Pagano's ambitions or loyalties. One great way to fuck up Nagy's tenure is to waste the defensive talent by having our DC leave every year to become an HC, and never let the D side grow in system continuity, and constantly have those players in emotional flux. It would be the reverse of the OC carousel that characterized Lovie's years. I've a bad feeling Pagano is just using us as a stepping stone and next year we are right back in this spot.
These are my thoughts exactly. On the one hand I love the hire. Great guy, players love him, aggressive and successful as DC - everything we want. The perfect choice.

On the other hand, this feels like a one year rental. He actually had a lot of success as the Colts HC and once he proves what he can do with talent on his side of the ball he'll probably be a top candidate for the 7 or 8 head coaching positions that open up in 2020.
I think that ship has sailed for Pagano. Especially the way the league is trending. I doubt he gets a HC gig next year.


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I like the hire. I wanted an experienced coach that could run that side of the ball with little to no direction from Nagy. It also sounds like a better personality fit for Nagy than Fangio. They’re both enthusiastic, mad man types. Pagano just needs to remember his position.


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Rakshir wrote:He's only been a defensive coordinator for one year, how can you guys be so confident he's a defensive genius ? I just don't get it.
Most defensive coordinator hires have only been positional coaches. This guy had massive success in the turnaround of a defense in Baltimore as a DC. Which is what netted him his Indy job. Has 6 years of HC'ing experience, has won in the post-season as a HC and is highly regarded around the league.

His HC'ing experience also means that he'll be comfortable running that entire side of the ball by himself. His personality also meshes nicely with Nagy.

This is just about as good of a DC hire as you can ask for coming off of Fangio. A guy like Vic being on the open market was rare and we got very, very lucky with that. This is a proven guy who dominated his last DC job. You simply can't ask for more than that.
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Richie wrote:
Rakshir wrote:He's only been a defensive coordinator for one year, how can you guys be so confident he's a defensive genius ? I just don't get it.
Most defensive coordinator hires have only been positional coaches. This guy had massive success in the turnaround of a defense in Baltimore as a DC. Which is what netted him his Indy job. Has 6 years of HC'ing experience, has won in the post-season as a HC and is highly regarded around the league.

His HC'ing experience also means that he'll be comfortable running that entire side of the ball by himself. His personality also meshes nicely with Nagy.

This is just about as good of a DC hire as you can ask for coming off of Fangio. A guy like Vic being on the open market was rare and we got very, very lucky with that. This is a proven guy who dominated his last DC job. You simply can't ask for more than that.
I agree with you here. And we are going from Fangio who clearly, desperately wanted the head guy promotion, to a guy who had already gotten that job and didn't do so well at it and thus, isn't likely to get promotion consideration going forward. Kind of the best of all worlds for us.
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He did fine when Luck was healthy.

I like the hire. A lot of experience to help Nagy on his way to Canton (My homer moment of the year)
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