Chuck Pagano is a “Madman” Bears Defense to Get More Aggressive
The Chicago Bears announced the hiring of Chuck Pagano as defensive coordinator, replacing long-time DC, Vic Fangio. Fangio became beloved in Chicago, especially after the 2018 season which saw the Bears rise to the top defense in the NFL. The Bears also recorded 50 sacks, their most since the 1987 season, and their 36 takeaways led all football.
Fangio has been a very good DC, dating back to his days in San Francisco, where his defense helped the 2012 49ers make it to the Super Bowl.
A championship was never in the cards for Vic here in Chicago, but he continued to churn out quality defenses, and had earned several head coaching interviews and finally the Denver Broncos head coaching job. But that’s not why you called…
Pagano also has a built up a strong resume. He was wildly successful in Baltimore as the Ravens DC, where the Ravens had 48 sacks and 39 turnovers. Prior to that, Pagano was the Ravens secondary coach, and was again thought very highly of. So much so, with the Indianapolis Colts and Pagano agreeing to part ways, the Ravens attempted to bring him back to Baltimore to coach their defense again.
Pagano was so well respected, Ray Lewis, Baltimore’s prodigal son (whom he shares the affinity for the city) came to Indy to give the Colts a playoff pep-talk before a 2015 playoff game at the request of Pagano.
Here’s a little nugget: Pagano had Ray Lewis address the Colts before they played the Broncos in the playoffs. Denver didn’t lose its mind.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 25, 2015
So just why should Chicago be excited? And why do I call him a “madman?”
In the preseason of 2011, several Ravens were asked about Pagano. Of course, they were complimentary, but it was in some of their responses that struck me, and made me think, “this guy can be special.”
“Chuck is a madman,” Domonique 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.”
The madman piece came from the fact that Pagano will blitz the quarterback, from any formation, under any circumstance. This helps put more pressure on a quarterback, and helps the defense create mistakes and opportunities. When Pagano was introduced as defensive coordinator of the Ravens, he described his philosophy like this, “my philosophy is: let’s go out and wreak havoc.”
Wreaking havoc is what they did. While the Ravens led the NFL in the least amount of defensive touchdowns allowed in the previous two seasons before him, they saw a reduction in sacks. In the 2010 season, the Ravens (who were considered a top five defense) only recorded 27 sacks. Utilizing blitz packages from all over, the Ravens added 21 sacks in 2011.
He is an aggressive coach, and he isn’t going to shy away from that. He will send multiple defensive backs on blitzes, while dropping linebackers into coverage. He will overload offensive lines with pressure, forcing QB’s into quick and often poor decisions. He will put pressure on opposing offenses from the opening kickoff until the final whistle. Most importantly, he runs a very similar defensive scheme, but tosses it in a pressure cooker and won’t lay off until the ball is back in the Bears offense’s hands.
This is a good thing for the Bears. I am not going to say he is better than Fangio, they are different and it’s hard to say one way or another, but in an era in which offenses are putting defensive units on their heels, the Bears, under Pagano, have an opportunity to force even more mistakes in 2019. What is great is, all the pieces he needs to be successful are already on the roster.
Looking ahead, the Bears only have XX players on the defensive side of the ball entering free agency. Here is a list of those potential free agents:
CB Bryce Callahan
OLB Aaron Lynch
FS Adrian Amos
DE Roy Robertson-Harris
DE Nick Williams
CB Marcus Williams
S DeAndre Houston-Carson
OLB Isaiah Irving
The top of the Bears list should be either Callahan or Amos, but with the defense the Bears and Pagano run (also ran by Fangio) the nickle-back (Callahan) is likely more important to keep around in 2019.
This would return most Bears stars on the defensive side, and the talent they have, they should thrive in a 3-4 with a MAJOR emphasis on the pass-rush. In 2018, the Bears were near the bottom in blitz percentage, yet were second in football with 50 sacks. If they click that up a notch, provided there isn’t a major setback in talent or injury or whatever else, this team should push even higher sack numbers in 2019 under Pagano.
Of course this doesn’t mean they’ll be better in 2019 than 2018, they have a different schedule, teams are changing their rosters and coaching staffs, etc. But this is a very good hire, and adding more pressure, defensively, is something I know many Bears fans asked for under Fangio.
