John Pagano (born March 30, 1967) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and most recently the outside linebackers coach for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their home games at NR ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He is the younger brother of

Chuck Pagano Charles David Pagano (born October 2, 1960) is a former American football coach and player. Pagano spent six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012 to 2017. He also served as the defens ...

Early life

Pagano was born and raised in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...

. An all-state linebacker at Fairview High School, he played at

Colorado Mesa University Colorado Mesa University is a public university in Grand Junction, Colorado. The university's other locations include Bishop Campus, which houses Western Colorado Community College in northwestern Grand Junction, and a regional campus in Mon ...

from 1985–88, earning a degree in business marketing.

Coaching career

San Diego Chargers

Pagano originally joined the Chargers in 2002 as the team's quality control coach for the defense and moved his way up the ranks, first as an assistant linebackers coach, then as the outside linebackers coach and linebackers coach before being promoted to

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

on January 5, 2012. Since Pagano first started working with the team’s linebackers in 2005, a player from that group led the team in tackles and sacks every season, including

Shaun Phillips Shaun Jamal Phillips (born May 13, 1981) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football for Purdue and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Phillips has also been a member of the ...

who paced the squad in 2012 with 9.5. Pagano also worked closely with

Shawne Merriman Shawne DeAndre Merriman (born May 25, 1984), nicknamed "Lights Out", is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins and was ...

, who led the NFL in sacks in 2006, was selected to play in three Pro Bowls and won the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2005. In Pagano's first year as a coordinator, the Chargers scored a total of seven defensive touchdowns in 2012, second in the NFL to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

(12), and two shy of the team record set by the 1961 squad that returned nine interceptions for touchdowns. The 2012 Chargers returned five interceptions and two fumbles for scores. The Chargers also increased their sack total, going from 32 in 2011 to 38 in 2012, including a team-record-tying 11-sack performance in a Dec 23 win against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

Oakland Raiders

On January 23, 2017, Pagano agreed to become the Assistant Head Coach/Defense for the

. On November 21, 2017, following the Raiders' Week 11 loss to the Patriots, and with the defense having failed to intercept a pass, defensive coordinator

Ken Norton Jr. Kenneth Howard Norton Jr. (born September 29, 1966) is an American football coach and former linebacker who most recently served as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL) from 2018 to 2021. He ...

was fired. Pagano then took over defensive coordinator duties. The Raiders had their first interception in Week 12 against the

in a 21–14 win, being picked off by

NaVorro Bowman NaVorro Roderick Bowman (born May 28, 1988) is a former American football linebacker who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State, and was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the thi ...

Houston Texans

On January 26, 2018, Pagano was hired as a senior defensive assistant for the

Denver Broncos

On January 30, 2020, Pagano was hired as an outside linebackers coach for the

Personal life

Pagano and his wife Kimberly have two sons, Jagger and Brody. His older brother,

, is the former head coach of the

. The Pagano brothers both played for their father, Sam, who spent 26 years as the head coach at Fairview High. Sam also coached internationally in Taiwan, Germany,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and Italy. Pagano's nephew,

Carlo Kemp Carlo Kemp (born January 1, 1998) is an American football outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played professionally for the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League ...

, is an American football player for the Pittsburgh Maulers of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

References

External links

Houston Texans profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagano, John 1967 births Living people Denver Broncos coaches Houston Texans coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Colorado Mesa Mavericks football coaches Colorado Mesa Mavericks football players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football coaches National Football League defensive coordinators New Orleans Saints coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Ole Miss Rebels football coaches San Diego Chargers coaches UNLV Rebels football coaches High school football coaches in Colorado Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado Players of American football from Colorado