Chuck Pagano Charles D . " Chuck " Pagano ( born October 2 , 1960 ) is an American football coach and former player . He is currently the head coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League ( NFL ) , a position he assumed in January 2012 . Pagano has previously served as the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens in 2011 . He is the brother of San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano . Coaching career . College career . Pagano ' s coaching career began as a graduate assistant at Southern California from 1984 to 1985 before a parallel move to University of Miami in 1986 . He was outside linebackers coach at Boise State from 1987 to 1988 , then coached defensive back s at East Carolina and UNLV in 1989 and 1990 , respectively . By 1991 , Pagano had been promoted to defensive coordinator for UNLV , but returned to East Carolina to coach defensive backs and outside linebackers a year later . Pagano first linked with Butch Davis in 1995 , returning to the University of Miami to coach the secondary and coordinate special teams . In his five years there , he recruited and coached four first round NFL draft picks , and during the 2000 season , his secondary was named the nation ' s best by " College Football News " . His defensive backs did not allow a passing touchdown over the last 27 quarters of the 1999 season . Miami also blocked 39 kicks in 59 games , including a school record 12 blocks in 1996 . At the end of the 2006 season , Pagano rejoined Davis following his appointment as head coach of North Carolina . In his first and only season , they finished with a record of 4 - 8 , but were narrowly beaten by less than seven points in six of those games . NFL . In 2001 , Pagano joined Davis in the NFL as secondary coach for the Cleveland Browns . In 2003 , he helped the Browns tie a franchise record for the fewest passing touchdown s allowed with 13 . In 2001 , the secondary accounted for 28 of the Browns ' NFL - high 33 interceptions , and , in the same season , rookie cornerback Anthony Henry led the league with ten interceptions . After leaving Cleveland in 2004 , Pagano spent two seasons as the defensive backs coach of the Oakland Raiders . In 2006 , the Raiders ' pass defensive allowed just 151 yards per game , and total defense just 285 . This ranked them first and third in the league , respectively . Pagano was named to John Harbaugh ' s initial coaching staff with the Baltimore Ravens on February 12 , 2008 . He served as defensive secondary coach for three seasons . He was promoted to Defensive Coordinator on January 18 , 2011 , succeeding Greg Mattison who accepted a similar position at the University of Michigan . Pagano ' s defense finished 3rd in both points allowed and in yards allowed . They finished 13 in takeaways and 2nd Rush yards allowed , but Baltimore ' s defense has always been known for its ability to stop the run . Pagano drastically improved the pass defense going from 21 in passing yards allowed to 4th . They improved from 9th in passing touchdowns allowed to 1st in the league . The defense also came away with 17 interceptions . Pagano is known for his ability in secondary and ability to stop opposing teams pass attack . On January 25 , 2012 , Pagano was named the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts . Personal . Pagano was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in September 2012 , and took an indefinite leave of absence of his coaching duties . He then underwent three months of treatment at the IU Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis . On November 5 , doctors announced that Pagano ' s cancer is in remission . To support Pagano , two dozen of the Colts players , and two of their cheerleaders , shaved their heads as part of a movement to support Pagano known as " CHUCKSTRONG " . Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians led the Colts during the next 12 games . Pagano returned to his head coaching duties on December 24 , 2012 . Head coaching record . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Chuck Pagano only coached four regular season games as he recovered from cancer however , Pagano returned for the playoffs . References . http : / / www . colts . com / media - center / videos / Pregame _ Report _ Dolphins _ / 3e8ec691 - 4748 - 4f9f - 9c6e - 12abd015ef47