The Broncos interviewed longtime NFL coach John Pagano earlier today for the team’s open outside linebacker coaching position, according to Mike Klis of 9News.com. Pagano is a veteran NFL assistant and has many ties to the Denver area. Pagano comes from a familial lineage of coaching. His father, Sam Pagano, was a wildly successful high school head coach in Boulder, Colorado at Boulder Fairview High School and his older brother Chuck Pagano is the former Colts head coach and current Bears defensive coordinator.
Pagano has been coaching in the NFL since 1996. He was let go by the Texans a couple of weeks ago after a two-year stint as a senior defensive assistant and outside linebackers coach in Houston. Prior to his time in Houston, Pagano had been a defensive coordinator with the Chargers from 2012-2016 and with the Raiders in 2017. More relevant to his potential candidacy in Denver, Pagano served as a defensive assistant from 1999-2001 with the Colts on the same staff as current Broncos head coach Vic Fangio.
His long experience as a linebackers coach, familiarity with Fangio, and childhood ties to Colorado would seem to align to make him a likely candidate. Assistant coaching staff positions are not subject to the Rooney Rule or any other restrictions, so the team could make a hire at any point. Only time will tell if Pagano will indeed make a homecoming.