Yo, Miami, if you give me a fourth of what you’re paying Korn Ferry, I’ll go find a coach for you. Or, hell, I’ll just give it to you here: Chuck Pagano.
There will be plenty of rumors, innuendo, he-said-she-said over the coming months as the Hurricanes attempt to fill their vacancy. It’s a very elite job, no matter what anyone says. The recruiting soil is lush, and Miami is a national brand. It’s one of the few.
Miami is a college team in a pro sports town, which means that a lot of alums are transient. I don’t have statistics to back that up, but when people say, “no one shows up to Miami games,” it’s not because they lack fans, but it’s because their alumni don’t stay tethered to Miami the city.
At any rate, Pagano is their guy, and I have zero question as to whether that’s the best hire.
He’s 37-20 as a head coach in the NFL in spite of having a team not really fit for his philosophy, which can partly be blamed on him. While his Indianapolis Colts are currently 5-5, he’s never coached a single season and not made the playoffs. That includes when he took over a previously 2-14 football team that (tanked) lost its way to Andrew Luck.
Pagano’s contract wasn’t extended after last season, partially of his own devices, betting on himself.
There have been rumors of major discord within the Colts’ complex and further rumors of his boss not believing he’s the guy in the end. It’s common knowledge that one way or another, Pagano will be cleaning out his office at season’s end unless the Colts go to a Super Bowl, and even then, Chuck would have a healthy choice to make for himself.
Your reason for Pagano to Miami is that dudes play for Chuck, which is more or less one of the most overlooked and crucial aspects of coaching. The ole Xs and Os are indeed important. It’s why you can’t pick a high school kid pushing shopping carts at K-Mart and plug him into a coaching gig expecting it to work.
The most important portion of coaching though, at least in my opinion, is motivation. Pagano gets the most out of his players, which plays well in college a lot more than it does in the NFL.
In a way, Pagano has been sabotaged by an incredulous front office in Indy that’s acted with extreme immaturity and has implemented a poor free-agency strategy. It’s awfully difficult to understand why a guy who hasn’t spent a single season at home immediately after the regular season is on the hot seat, but it partially could be because Pagano wants out, too.
He had to be insulted by the Colts’ “extension” offer last offseason, which was the ole “I think we need a break but we’re still together … cool?”
More importantly, Pagano knows the Miami landscape. He coached defensive backs and special teams there from 1995 to 2000, during the rebuild of that program into a behemoth it became during the early part of the century.
There aren’t many examples of successful NFL coaches failing at the college level. Some of that is because a lot of them don’t go back to that level.
I’m just telling you right now … Pagano is Miami’s guy if the Canes want to max out their potential. Sure, he’s made mistakes, including a lovable one against my Patriots on special teams this year, but the man makes people believe. I’ve talked to enough folks that will admit that.
Remember what Pete Carroll did for USC? The energy, the belief, the realism, the motivation, the attitude, the ability to be above the fray whilst sitting in the middle of it.
Pagano to Miami. If Miami is lucky.
