Latest news with #ChuckPagano
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Ravens CB Nate Wiggins had a strong rookie season. Now, he's learning to be a pro
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens secondary coach Chuck Pagano didn't wait for the play to officially end. As cornerback Nate Wiggins headed upfield, setting up his blocks along the way, following an interception of an overthrown pass during Friday's organized team activity, Pagano broke out the celebratory dance moves on the sideline. Advertisement The 64-year-old coach shuffled up and down and waved his right arm in the air as if he were riding an imaginary horse. It doesn't take much to get Pagano going, but the sight of Wiggins securing the football and using his speed to race toward the end zone was enough to get anybody associated with the Ravens excited. Wiggins, a first-round pick in 2024, had a strong rookie season. He played in all but two games, broke up 13 passes and held quarterbacks to a 66.7 passer rating when they targeted him. Wiggins allowed just 31 receptions on 62 targets, forced a key fumble in Dallas and had a pick six in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns. Yet, it was hard for Ravens coaches this offseason not to think about how much better Wiggins could get when he became a little stronger and had a better grasp of the fundamentals of the cornerback position and how offenses were attacking him. 'Last year, he was just running like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to figure out what to do,' Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr said last week. 'Now, he understands the system. He understands the defense. He's been in the league for a year, so he understands formations from offenses. Now, he can really just hone in on his technique. Man, that guy right there, he takes his technique to another level on a consistent basis. The sky's the limit for him.' Wiggins, who had an interception and a pass breakup in the Ravens' last OTA on Friday, is off to a solid start this offseason. He's added 10 pounds after prioritizing getting bigger and stronger. Possessing a better understanding of the position, he's playing with more decisiveness and confidence. And he no longer has to wonder about his role on a week-to-week basis. The Ravens, influenced partly by health issues for Wiggins in the first half of the season, somewhat eased the rookie in. He played more than 75 percent of the team's defensive snaps just twice over Baltimore's first 10 games. But those days are over. He'll enter the 2025 season as a starting outside corner and one of the Ravens' core defenders. He says he's ready for that. Advertisement 'Last season, I didn't feel like I was really a pro yet,' Wiggins said Friday. 'Now, I'm knowing how to be a pro. I feel like now it's going to pay off.' The Ravens lost some key pieces from last year's defense, which started agonizingly slow but turned things around and was playing at a high level by season's end. Nose tackle Michael Pierce retired. Starting cornerback Brandon Stephens departed to the New York Jets in free agency. Malik Harrison and Chris Board, part of the linebacker rotation, signed elsewhere. Baltimore's cornerback depth thinned out with veterans Tre'Davious White and Arthur Maulet not returning. Safety Ar'Darius Washington, whose ascension into the starting lineup was a catalyst for the defensive turnaround, tore his Achilles during a May workout and will miss most, if not all, of the 2025 season. Meanwhile, Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta's two most prominent veteran defensive additions were Chidobe Awuzie, who will likely compete for the No. 3 or 4 cornerback role, and John Jenkins, a rotational defensive lineman. If the Ravens are going to build off of where last year's defense finished, they'll be relying heavily on the development of their young players, and that includes members of the team's rookie class. That means third-year pro Trenton Simpson, who is poised to reclaim his starting inside linebacker spot alongside Roquan Smith; first-round safety Malaki Starks, who will almost certainly be a day one starter; and young edge rushers Mike Green and Adisa Isaac, Day 2 selections over the past two drafts who will be counted on to add some pass-rushing juice. That also means Wiggins, who team officials believe has star potential if he stays healthy and learns the nuances of the cornerback position. More takeaways, like the one in Friday's practice, would help, too. A recent guest on 'The Lounge' podcast, Wiggins told the team website that one of his goals is to create 10-plus turnovers (interceptions or forced fumbles) in 2025. He had two last year. Advertisement 'I expect him to be locked in and focused on the little things,' Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Friday. 'Raindrops make oceans, man. Lock in on every little detail to be great, and that's what he's focusing on.' When Wiggins entered the league after a strong final season at Clemson, there was little doubt that he could run with NFL receivers. He clocked a blistering 4.28 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. Only Kansas City Chiefs first-round wide receiver Xavier Worthy (4.21) beat that time. The concerns were over whether Wiggins, who weighed just 173 pounds at the combine, would hold up physically, particularly against bigger receivers, and also against running backs had he needed to make a tackle on the outside. Wiggins held his own physically as a rookie, but he acknowledged that he didn't feel like he was able to protect himself as well as needed. That, in his mind, led to some of the physical issues that he played through for much of last year. 'Injury wasn't my big thing last year, (but) just hitting the ground,' Wiggins said. 'With my shoulders hitting the ground, the body couldn't absorb the contact. So it was really just getting my body (ready to) take the contact.' Wiggins said he has a really fast metabolism and has always struggled to put on weight. He loaded up on steak, mashed potatoes and proteins this offseason to add 10 pounds and get up to 185. It's a start for a player whose speed remains his biggest attribute. Now, the Ravens would like to see Wiggins utilize his increased strength. 'I thought Nate did a great job going to work this offseason, putting weight on,' Orr said. 'That's a testament to him and the strength coaches coming up with a great plan. Obviously, he followed it. The weight is real, so that's good to see, but what I see him focusing on now, he's more locked in on his fundamentals and technique on a more consistent basis.'
NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Back in coaching, Chuck Pagano has no desire to be a head coach again
Former Colts coach Chuck Pagano ended his retirement in January to join the Ravens as the team's senior secondary coach. It's not a first step toward trying to be a head coach again. 'No, sir,' Pagano said Thursday, via Jamison Hensley of when asked if he aspires to be a head coach. 'Nobody has any idea until you sit in that seat.' Pagano parlayed one season as the Ravens' defensive coordinator (after three as the team's secondary coach) into the head coaching job in Indianapolis. He spent six years with the Colts. After a year off, he served as the Bears' defensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020. He was retired and out of coaching from 2021 through 2024. 'Some of my fondest memories and coaching moments were the first time I was here [in Baltimore] and just being a secondary coach,' Pagano said. "[As a head coach], you get pulled away from what you love doing and that's coaching the game. You got so many other things going. . . . But no, I'm good. I've had enough of [head coaching].' But while he had his fill of head coaching, the 64-year-old was ready to do some non-head coaching. 'This was just probably the only opportunity that would get me off the couch,' Pagano said. '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. . . . 'I never really stopped thinking about coaching and thinking about the game. My kids, my wife, my daughters -- they don't know any better -- but they all thought I retired too young.' He's back in the game now, with one of the NFL's elite teams. And maybe he'll cap his coaching career with a Super Bowl win.
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Why Chuck Pagano came out of retirement to coach the Ravens
Why Chuck Pagano came out of retirement to coach the Ravens Show Caption Hide Caption Ravens release kicker Justin Tucker after massage therapist allgations Ravens release kicker Justin Tucker, who was accused of sexual misconduct by 16 different employees of eight Baltimore area spas and wellness centers. Sports Pulse For the last four years, former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano spent his early 60s enjoying his retirement. But the call of football and the temptation to return to the sidelines was always there. In January, Pagano signed on to join the Baltimore Ravens' coaching staff as a senior defensive assistant/secondary coach – his first gig since spending the 2019 and 2020 seasons as the Chicago Bears' defensive coordinator. On Thursday, he spoke to the media about why he made the decision to return. "I never really stopped thinking about coming back," he said. Pagano explained that his initial reason for retiring in the first place was needing a break from working after dealing with the stress of coaching during the 2020 season – the peak year of the COVID-19 pandemic. BALTIMORE RAVENS: Lamar Jackson in 'introductory stage' of extension talks with team After four years though, Pagano realized that his time not coaching football was leaving him with an itch he couldn't scratch. "I was done with a workout, honey-dos, chores, and it's 10 o'clock in the morning," he said. "And I'm like, can't start drinking, I wait till a certain time to start that, but it's hard to fill your days. "(Returning to the Ravens) was the opportunity of a lifetime and probably the only place that could get me to come back." Pagano was part of then-rookie head coach John Harbaugh's first staff when he joined the Ravens in 2008, serving as the team's secondary coach for three years before a promotion to defensive coordinator in 2011. He left for the Colts head coaching job in 2012, one year later. After six years with the Colts, two years with the Bears and four years of retirement, Pagano is back in Baltimore. RAVENS WR DEPTH CHART: Where Rashod Bateman fits after extension Just don't consider this an indication that he has aspirations to be a head coach again. "No, sir," he said in response to a question about a return head coaching. For now, Pagano is just enjoying the ride and making the most out of an opportunity to coach again. "When you have something, you kind of take it for granted. And then, when you don't, you realize just how special it was: to coach and be a part of something – be a part of a team – have the relationships that you develop and build when you're a part of something like that. "It's been awesome."
USA Today
10-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Chuck Pagano heaps massive praise onto Kyle Hamilton
Chuck Pagano heaps massive praise onto Kyle Hamilton Chuck Pagano has worked with some elite DBs during his career, but Kyle Hamilton still wows him. Chuck Pagano is undoubtedly one of the more colorful characters in the NFL coaching fraternity. Part of the reason for that is his penchant for prolific prose. He loves to publicly praise his players. After five years away from the league and 15 years apart from the Baltimore Ravens, Pagano returns as the Senior Secondary Coach. Pagano looks to revamp and revitalize a unit that spent most of this past season last or next to last in passing yards allowed. Kyle Hamilton is an elite building block for Pagano to work around. The All-Pro's strong safety is the team's "Swiss army knife;" he can do it all at multiple positions. Pagano provided hype that sounded like it belonged in a summer blockbuster action movie trailer. "He's an avatar, man. He's a freak," Pagano said while appearing on the team's official podcast The Lounge. "He's unbelievable, his length, his speed, his size, his coverage for a safety, like he can cover slot receivers. It doesn't matter who it is. Like there's no panic when you watch him out there. It doesn't matter if they got him at nickel, big nickel, safety, dime, from a mental standpoint, he knows all that. He's a great communicator." Hamilton does not have a nickname yet, so maybe "The Avatar" fits? And maybe what Pagano said here isn't really that much of hype after all? The Ravens' defensive player, Mt. Rushmore, still needs a fourth member. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Terrell Suggs are the obvious first three, and there is potential for Hamilton to someday develop into the kind of player that could join them in that elite pantheon. When it comes time to extend his current contract, it is widely thought that he will reset the market's safety position. Hamilton, 23, is entering his fourth season in the league after going 14th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. He was first-team All-Pro in 2023 and second-team All-Pro last season. However, his best football could still be in front of him.
USA Today
29-01-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 NFL offseason: Key dates for the Ravens to know ahead of free agency
The 2024 regular season was a success for a Baltimore Ravens team still looking to reach its first Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson as the quarterback. After a divisional-round loss to the Bills, Baltimore will now turn towards the off-season, which could see several changes in personnel and a familiar addition to the coaching staff in Chuck Pagano. After the Super Bowl, the league will slow down for two weeks before the new league year begins, and the chase toward 2025 supremacy begins. Here are some important upcoming dates to keep in mind for the 2025 offseason:
