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Broncos Make it Official, Name John Pagano as OLBs Coach
On Thursday, head coach Vic Fangio announced that John Pagano has been hired by the Denver Broncos to coach the outside linebackers. Pagano is originally from Boulder, CO, and traveled back home to meet with Fangio last week about the OLBs Coach vacancy that was created when Brandon Staley accepted the L.A. Rams' defensive coordinator position.
Pagano brings 31 years of coaching experience to the table, 24 of which has been spent in the NFL. His last stop was a two-year stint with the Houston Texans as OLBs Coach where he contributed to back-to-back AFC South titles.
Before that, Pagano spent time with the Oakland Raiders and many years with the Chargers. Pagano has coached several star pass rushers, including the likes of Pro Bowlers such as Jadeveon Clowney, Khalil Mack, Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips.
Pagano also spent a lot of time coaching Melvin Ingram in San Diego. Pagano basically developed Ingram, who would land in his first of three Pro Bowls in 2017, the first year Pagano wasn't coaching him. Ingram is close friends with Von Miller, which is one reason the Broncos' eight-time Pro Bowler is excited to get to work with Pagano.
“I’m very familiar with John,’’ Miller told Mike Klis' of 9NEWS' during last weekend's NFL Honors media availability. “He was with the San Diego Chargers for a long time. He interviewed me at the (NFL) Combine (in 2011) -- he was super cool at the Combine. And he coached Melvin Ingram for a while; that’s one of my good buddies. Sounds like we got another great, smart coach.’’
Before his two-year stint with Oakland (2017-18), Pagano's total time with the Chargers amounted to 15 seasons (2002-16), which included various defensive coaching positions. He was a part of six playoff teams and was the impetus to Merriman becoming Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2005 and a household name.
Pagano's tenure with the Chargers included five seasons (2012-16) as the team’s defensive coordinator, helping San Diego score the fifth-most defensive touchdowns (17) in the NFL during that span. What really connected the Pagano-to-Denver dots was his past history working with Fangio.
Before his gig with the Chargers, Pagano spent four years as a defensive assistant in Indianapolis (1998-2001), three of which were under Fangio who was the Colts' defensive coordinator.
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