The Ravens have hired Chuck Pagano as their senior secondary coach, the team announced Tuesday night, bringing the former NFL head coach out of retirement and reuniting him with John Harbaugh.

Pagano, 64, most recently served as the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator from 2019 to 2020. He was the Ravens’ secondary coach from 2008 to 2010, Harbaugh’s first three years in Baltimore, before serving as defensive coordinator in 2011.

Pagano was named head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2012 and coached for six seasons, going 53-43 and making three playoff appearances. He missed 12 games in his first season with the Colts to receive treatment for leukemia.

In a statement, Harbaugh said Pagano “brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and coaching talent to our team. He has deep ties to the program and is excited to get to work.”

“What will pull you off the couch is opportunity to win, and win it all,” Pagano said Wednesday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” which he’s contributed to since 2022. “They’ve built a phenomenal roster, as we know, right? We’ve been watching them. They are a wagon, from top to bottom. [General manager] Eric [DeCosta] and John and that personnel staff and that coaching staff, they’ve built one hell of a roster. They’ve got a bunch of dudes on both sides of the ball and special teams. … This opportunity was just too good to pass up."

Pagano said the offer to return to a franchise that “changed everything” in his coaching career “came out of nowhere.” He texted Harbaugh last week on behalf of a friend about a potential role on the Ravens’ staff, then spoke with Harbaugh on the phone Friday.

“Hey, how you doing?” Pagano recalled Harbaugh asking him. “You good? You itching a little bit? You feeling like maybe you want to get back in in some capacity?”

Pagano said talks continued Monday and culminated with a job offer. He’d had an itch to return to coaching for a few years but said “it just had to be the perfect situation.” Pagano called the Ravens’ organization ”the gold standard” and his role in Baltimore “absolutely perfect.”

“I’m really not dying to be a head coach again and have all that responsibility, a coordinator, all the pressure that comes with that,” he said. “Just an opportunity in this role to help John and this organization and that defensive staff.”

Pagano is the second former Ravens defensive coordinator to join Harbaugh’s staff over the past four months. Dean Pees, who replaced Pagano in 2012 and served until 2017, was hired in October as a senior adviser to first-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr, who overcame a rocky start and entered the playoffs with one of the NFL’s best defenses. Pees, 75, is expected to have only a part-time consultant role in 2025.

Chris Hewitt served as the Ravens’ pass game coordinator and an assistant head coach this past season. Doug Mallory, an offseason hire last year, was their secondary coach. Pagano said Wednesday that both know “a shit ton of ball” and indicated that his role on Orr’s staff would be flexible.

“I get an opportunity to go in, fill a role in the back end, where, like, ‘OK, how can I help? What can I add to this?’” he said. “The nuts and bolts of that scheme have not changed [under Harbuagh]. So it’s an opportunity for me to go in and [ask], ‘What do you need? What do you need me to do? How can I help you guys develop these players?’ They’ve got phenomenal players back there.”

The Ravens never faced the Bears during Pagano’s stint in Chicago, but he oversaw one of the NFL’s better defenses in two seasons there. In both 2019 and 2020, the Bears finished eighth in the NFL in defensive efficiency, according to FTN, despite finishing near the bottom of the league in turnovers forced, a weakness for the 2024 Ravens as well.

Pagano retired from coaching in January 2021, saying the job “takes a lot of time away from your family and loved ones. I’m excited to start this new chapter of my life and can’t wait to be able to spend more time with my family.”

In Baltimore, Pagano will have a star-studded secondary still searching for its final pieces. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey and safety Kyle Hamilton are coming off Pro Bowl seasons, and Nate Wiggins was one of the NFL’s top rookie corners. Ar’Darius Washington, meanwhile, was a revelation as a deep safety.

But cornerback Brandon Stephens, who struggled mightily in 2024, is a pending free agent, safety Marcus Williams is expected to be released, and the team’s young pieces are largely unproven.

Pagano said he planned to fly to Baltimore on Monday and joked that he hoped to live close to Little Italy, a nod to his Italian roots. He called it “a privilege, and not your right, to play and coach in the National Football League.”

“Every day we get, not one of these days is guaranteed,” he said. “Nothing is promised. And that’s why we wake up today, we got another Wednesday, hey, let’s kick the living shit out of this Wednesday. And then, when we get another day, when Thursday comes, if we get it and we’re lucky enough, let’s have great enthusiasm for that day. Let’s kick the hell out of that Thursday.

“Am I going to get after it? You’ve got to coach these guys, right? You’re gonna hold guys accountable, do it the right way, build relationships, build ’em up. … As long as you build those relationships and there’s mutual respect and trust and love there, then you can pull a guy in an office behind closed doors and have a healthy conversation that could be uncomfortable but full of forthright and honesty and all those kind of things. So I can’t wait.”