Bears hire Pagano as defensive coordinator to replace Fangio FILE - In this Dec. 31, 2017, file photo, Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano applauds during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, in Indianapolis. John Elway's search for his fourth coach in six seasons begins with former Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, a native of Boulder, Colorado, on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File) LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) -- The Chicago Bears rode a dominant defense to the NFC North championship in a breakout season. They hope to keep it going with a new coordinator. The Bears hired former Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano to replace Vic Fangio on Friday, hoping he can help them build on what they accomplished this season. Pagano inherits one of the NFL's stingiest defenses after Fangio left to take the Denver Broncos' head coaching job. He will get to work with one of the league's best pass rushers in Khalil Mack as well as two other All-Pros in cornerback Kyle Fuller and safety Eddie Jackson. Pagano led Indianapolis to a 53-43 record and two AFC South championships from 2012 to 2017. He was forced to take a leave of absence early in his first season to get treated for leukemia. With offensive coordinator Bruce Arians serving as interim head coach, the Colts went 9-3 in his absence after a 1-2 start. They won 11 games and made the playoffs in each of Pagano's first three seasons before injuries to quarterback Andrew Luck took a toll. Before taking the Indianapolis job, he spent four seasons under John Harbaugh in Baltimore - as secondary coach from 2008 to 2010 and defensive coordinator in 2011, when the Ravens went 12-4 and ranked third in total defense. Pagano was a consultant for the NFL last season. ''He is a great teacher with an aggressive mentality that fits our style of football,'' coach Matt Nagy said. ''He is a man of high character and has a passion for the game that will no doubt add to the culture we have already started building at Halas Hall.'' The Bears went 12-4 in their first season under Nagy after four straight last-place finishes and made the playoffs for the first time in eight years. They finished with their best record since the 2006 team went 13-3 and reached the Super Bowl. The season ended on a gut-wrenching note when Cody Parkey's potential winning field goal hit the left upright and crossbar in the closing seconds of a 16-15 wild-card loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Story continues In four seasons, Fangio helped transform a defense that ranked among the worst in franchise history. Now, he finally has a head coaching job after 32 years as an assistant in the NFL. Like Fangio, Pagano has experience running 3-4 defenses. He also figures to have plenty of autonomy, with Nagy focused on the development of the offense and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Chicago already had a top-10 defense when general manager Ryan Pace swung a blockbuster trade for Mack just before the start of the season. That move showed just how serious the Bears were about making a jump after going 14-34 in three seasons under former coach John Fox. The defense jumped to a different level with Mack drawing double teams, Fuller and Jackson emerging, and Pro Bowl defensive end Akiem Hicks wreaking havoc. Linebacker Roquan Smith showed star potential after being drafted with the No. 8 overall pick. Linebacker Leonard Floyd and defensive tackle Eddie Goldman had solid seasons, and it all added up to this. Chicago led the NFL with 36 takeaways and 27 interceptions, a huge change after three straight years with a franchise-worst eight interceptions. The Bears gave up a league-low 17.7 points per game and 1,280 yards rushing - a franchise-low for a 16-game season. They also ranked third in total defense and tied for third with 50 sacks. Mack led the team with 12 1/2 sacks and tied for third in NFL with six forced fumbles. And Fuller tied for the league lead with seven sacks. --- More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP-NFL<doc-sep>INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 31: Head coach Chuck Pagano of the Indianapolis Colts looks on against the Houston Texans during the first half at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 31, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) Don’t look at Chuck Pagano’s defenses in Indianapolis when analyzing the Chicago Bears’ new defensive coordinator. Chuck Pagano was hired as the new defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears on Friday night. The move was met largely with positivity but there were some critics that spent time analyzing the Indianapolis Colts’ statistics when Pagano was the head coach and used those underwhelming numbers to criticize the hire. The numbers are underwhelming, there is truth there. When you look at the Colts DVOA, which for those who don’t look beyond traditional statistics is Defense-adjusted Value Over Average. It compares the defense’s efficiency compared to the other defenses in the league that year. It gives a great window into how a defense has played in multiple facets compared to the rest of the team’s that year. Chuck Paganos teams by scoring defense: Ravens DC: 2011 – 3rd (1st in DVOA) Colts HC: 2012 – 21st (31st) 2013 – 9th (16th) 2014 – 19th (13th) 2015 – 25th (13th) 2016 – 22nd (29th) 2017 – 14th (27th) Colts were 28th in scoring and 26th in DVOA the year before he arrived. — Stephen Letizia (@StephenLetizia) January 11, 2019 In Pagano’s six seasons as head coach of the Colts, he had what would be classified as three average defenses and three bad defenses. In Pagano’s six seasons, he only had 4 different defensive players ever make a Pro Bowl. At several other positions, Pagano’s defense had players that were far below league averages. In short, the Colts’ defenses in Pagano’s years were nearly devoid of any legitimate defensive talent. The finger shouldn’t be pointed at Pagano, it should be pointed at Ryan Grigson who woefully underwhelmed as the team’s general manager during that time. Grigson failed over and over again to put together an offensive line to protect their franchise quarterback and he also failed to put together any kind of talent on the defensive side of the ball to balance the Colts’ roster. Also keep in mind, this was largely done when Andrew Luck was on a rookie deal and the team should have had a plenty of money to create a viable roster. Grigson’s miss to put together a viable roster is one of the most egregious failures in NFL history as general managers go. Pagano’s underwhelming defensive stats are more a result of Grigson than they are of Pagano. Coaches need talent to succeed. When Pagano had talent in Baltimore, his lone season as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, he had the top ranked defense in the NFL by DVOA. He also did solid work prior to that as the Ravens’ secondary coach helping elevate some lower level players and also aiding Ed Reed into a couple of the best seasons of his career. There’s no guarantee that Pagano will have the defense perform as well as Vic Fangio did, but it’s also possible that Pagano has them play even better. He’s more aggressive than Fangio and he will attack the quarterback more than the Bears did in 2018. With Todd Bowles in Tampa and Gregg Williams with the Jets, there isn’t an argument that there was a better hire than Pagano. Some people will say Ed Donatell should have gotten the job, but he doesn’t have the success at the NFL level that Pagano does. Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy wanted someone they could trust to be the “defensive head coach” like Fangio was, and Pagano is the right guy for the job.<doc-sep>
Bears hire Chuck Pagano as defensive coordinator Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano looks on during an NFL football game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley stadium in London in 2016. The Bears annouced they'd hired Pagano as their new defensive on coordinator Friday night. Associated Press That didn't take long. Just a day after losing their defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who was hired as the Broncos' head coach on Thursday, the Bears tabbed Chuck Pagano to replace him Friday night. "We are excited to add Chuck to our staff as defensive coordinator," Bears head coach Matt Nagy said. "He has successful experience at many different levels in this league, and he is a great teacher with an aggressive mentality that fits our style of football. He is a man of high character and has a passion for the game that will no doubt add to the culture we have already started building at Halas Hall." The 58-year-old Pagano did not coach in 2018 but worked as an NFL consultant. He was the Colts' head coach for the previous six years (2012-17), with a 53-43 regular-season record and a 3-3 mark in the playoffs. He led the Colts to three straight playoff appearances from 2012-14, including AFC South division titles in 2013 and 2014, and an appearance in the 2014 AFC title game. Pagano's first season with the Colts was one of the more memorable in NFL history. After just three games, he was forced to step away from the team after being diagnosed with leukemia. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians stepped in as the interim head coach and led the Colts to a 9-3 record and a wild-card berth. Pagano came back after missing 12 weeks and led the Colts to a win over the Texans in their season finale to finish with an 11-5 record. Pagano's battle with leukemia led him to form the Chuckstrong Foundation, which has raised more than $4.7 million for continued cancer research. The Colts' best season under Pagano came in 2014, when he guided the team to 11 wins, capped an appearance in the AFC Championship Game, the team's first since 2009. Defensively, the Colts ranked seventh in the AFC against the pass. Safety Mike Adams tied for the NFL lead in takeaways (7), while cornerback Vontae Davis tied for third in the league in passes defensed (18) as the two earned their first career Pro Bowl selections. Pagano has 16 years of NFL coaching experience. Before joining the Colts, he spent four seasons with the Ravens (2008-11), the first three as defensive backs coach and the last as defensive coordinator. Pagano became just the second head coach in NFL history to register at least 11 wins in each of his first three seasons with a team and became the third head coach in Colts history to reach the playoffs in each of his first three years. During his four seasons in Baltimore, Pagano's defenses allowed the second-fewest points per game and the second-fewest net yards in the NFL. The Ravens also ranked third in the NFL in scoring defense during that span. In 2011 as coordinator, Pagano's crew finished third in the NFL in total defense, second against the run and fourth against the pass on its way to the AFC championship game. The Ravens also led the league in forced fumbles (21) and had the third-most sacks in the NFL (48.0). Pagano spent 18 years as a college coach before moving to the NFL. Pagano takes over a Bears defense that led the NFL in takeaways (36), interceptions (27), fewest rushing yards allowed (80.0 per game), fewest points per game (17.7), lowest opponents' passer rating (72.9) and three-and-out percentage (26.8). The Bears' defense was also No. 3 in total yards allowed (299.7) and in sacks (50). • Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter at @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.