Raven Country

Ravens Coach's Experience Proving Invaluable

One of the newest additions to the Baltimore Ravens' coaching staff brings a host of experience with him.
Jon Alfano|
Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano walks across the field prior to the game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano walks across the field prior to the game against the Baltimore Ravens. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

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Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens senior secondary coach Chuck Pagano has been coaching in the NFL for a long time now, spending 18 seasons in the league before his initial retirement in 2020. He's been an assistant, a defensive coordinator and a head coach, and he's picked up a great deal of knowledge on the way.

Now having come out of retirement to re-join the Ravens (he was previously their secondary coach from 2008-10 and defensive coordinator in 2011), Pagano doesn't seem to have missed a beat. Head coach John Harbaugh noted how valuable Pagano's experience has been in his second stint in Baltimore.

"Chuck's a great coach, and he does a great job with these guys," Harbaugh told reporters Wednesday. "He's experienced, but Chuck, even when he was a young coach he was a great coach. I know, because I was young then too. He's always been a talented superstar, secondary coach, defensive backs coach, defensive coach, [head] coach."

Pagano's coaching style already seems to be working on a secondary that is largely very young, save for Marlon Humphrey and newcomer Chidobe Awuzie. First-round rookie Malaki Starks recently shared that Pagano sent him film at 5 a.m. before Monday's practice, and the youngster appreciated that level of dedication.

"I woke up, and I was like, 'OK, cool. That makes sense,'" Starks told reporters Monday. "That's how I want to be coached. I received that very well, so just being able to have somebody like that in my corner, it's a blessing."

Pagano wasn't going to come out of retirement for just any coaching opportunity, it had to be the right one. With how he's approached his second stint in Baltimore so far, it's clear how much it means for him to come back.

"This was just probably the only opportunity that would get me off the couch," Pagano told reporters last week. "A lot of my friends back home said, 'Are you out of your mind? Why would you go back to the grind?' You can't replicate this. You can't replicate the grind."

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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