Chuck Pagano Replaces Departed Greg Mattison as Ravens Defensive Coordinator

by Barry Barnes

Filed under: Ravens, AFC North

After the players cleaned their lockers out on Monday, some temporarily and some permanent, Greg Mattison cleared his office for good Tuesday after leaving his position as the Ravens' defensive coordinator to accept the same job at the University of Michigan. Baltimore secondary coach Chuck Pagano will take his place.

Mattison rejoins his old friend and colleague, Brady Hoke, who is the new head coach at Michigan. Mattison and Hoke coached together on Jack Harbaugh's -- Ravens head coach John Harbaugh's father -- staff at Western Michigan and together worked under Lloyd Carr at Michigan.

"I was like, 'Wow,'" said Ravens cornerback Fabian Washington, according to The Baltimore Sun. "I was surprised because he's leaving a great job being the defensive coordinator of the Ravens."

Mattison has a daughter, Lisa, who lives in Ann Arbor, Mich., and is expecting a child soon.

But like the Rex Ryans, Mike Nolans and Marvin Lewis's before Mattison, the Ravens quickly replaced him with someone from within the organization by naming Pagano, 50, their new defensive coordinator.

Pagano was the team's secondary coach for the past three seasons. The Ravens finished in the top 10 in total defense in each of the last two seasons under Mattison. Pagano was rumored to leave the Ravens to become the Raiders defensive coordinator since Hue Jackson, formerly a member of the Ravens' coaching staff, was promoted to head coach.

Pagano is expected to keep the defense mostly intact.

"Chuck is the right guy for the job," said Washington. "If anybody deserves that job, it's Chuck. That guy is one of the best football coaches I've ever been around. ... Chuck will put his own twist on it but it will remain the same."

Pagano only possesses coordinator experience on the collegiate level, at UNLV (1990-91) and North Carolina (2007), but he's also served as secondary coach for the Cleveland Browns (2001-04) and the Raiders (2005-06).

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2011/01/19/chuck-pagano-replaces-departed-greg-mattison-as-ravens-defensive/

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