National Football League

For the Pagano brothers, it's football in the family

Published Jan. 14, 2015 12:00 p.m. ET

Sam Gardner

When word came in the fall of 2012 that Colts head coach Chuck Pagano had been diagnosed with cancer three games into his first season on the job in Indianapolis, it rattled the NFL. No one likely took the news harder than Pagano's brother John, then the newly minted defensive coordinator for the San Diego Chargers.

The younger of the Pagano men by 6½ years, John had been named to his new position with the Chargers three weeks before Chuck left his post as the Ravens' defensive coordinator for the top spot in Indy.

The brothers' respective promotions that January marked the latest affirmation that the Paganos were continuing to make the most of a love of football that had been growing for decades -- a mutual passion and fascination that dated to their childhood in Boulder, Colo., where both John and Chuck played for their dad, Sam, in high school.

So for John, learning that Chuck had cancer at the age of 52 left him frustrated and angry and upset all at once, and like so many others, it led him to even ponder his own mortality. But while John was concerned for his brother's well-being, he says there was never a moment when he questioned whether Chuck would conquer the disease and eventually return to the sideline.

"Any time a family is caught with news like that, it's always shock at first, but then knowing the fight and strength that my brother has, we knew he'd beat it," John Pagano told FOX Sports in a phone interview from San Diego Tuesday. "And then it's not only beating cancer, but the success that he's had since -- he's had some very successful stints, but what they've done with that coaching staff and those players there, it's commendable."

Those players would be Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Vontae Davis and a cast of others who have made Indianapolis a formidable foe in the AFC, and what they've done this year is dominate just about everyone en route to Sunday's AFC championship game in Foxboro, where they'll play the New England Patriots with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

To say that the Colts came out of nowhere to reign as one of the conference's supreme teams would be somewhat inaccurate. After going 2-14 in 2011 while Peyton Manning dealt with a serious neck injury, Indy drafted Luck, won 11 games and reached the playoffs under Bruce Arians while Pagano was getting treatment in 2012, then won 11 more last year and advanced to the divisional round, when their season ended at the hands of the same Patriots they'll meet this week.

But it wasn't until this year that Indianapolis (13-5) had the true look of a champion -- title potential that was on full display during Sunday's complete beat down of Manning and the Broncos in Denver -- and for John Pagano, his brother's success in the wake of his cancer fight hasn't been the least bit surprising.

Though the X's and O's and the talent between the lines have a lot to do with any team's success on the field, John says the difference in Indianapolis comes down to Chuck's fortitude and his inspiration, both of which were a huge factor in the way the Colts locker room rallied around him both during his treatment and in the nearly two years since he returned to work late in the 2012 season.

"The No. 1 thing in the National Football League that coaches all want is for your players to play for you, and when you get them to do things and play for you, you can do so much," John Pagano said.

"And when you see guys rally around him, because of who he is as a person -- because of the man he is, the father he is, the husband he is; that's what draws all of those things out -- it's easy for guys to put their hand out and go play for him, when you sacrifice things that you have to sacrifice. So seeing them rally like that is no shock."

In San Diego, John is coming off of a fine season of his own, a second consecutive 9-7 finish that left the Chargers just outside the playoffs in a loaded AFC after reaching the divisional round with an identical regular-season record last year. John's defensive unit played a major role in the team's success and was among the league's best in defending the pass, allowing just 214 yards per game through the air.

John said he and Chuck talk or text daily, and this week, they're almost certainly sharing tips on how to slow the Patriots' high-powered offense -- which the Chargers did well against for most of their Week 14 game against New England, until one 69-yard fourth-quarter pass play from Tom Brady to Julian Edelman ended San Diego's hope for an upset, and effectively did the same to the team's postseason hopes.

"The biggest thing is they're so explosive, they have so many weapons," John said of his advice for Chuck and the Colts, who struggled to contain New England's offense in a 42-20 Week 11 loss in Indy.

"Brady is still one of the best that's ever played, and they do a great job of managing situations. We had some success against them -- if memory serves, we started the second half with four three-and-outs, and our red zone defense was solid -- but I think the thing that hurt us was that anytime you play those teams you have to minimize big plays, and that's where they hit us."

Still, John says, he has to play things close to the vest when mentoring his big brother, just in case there's a day when he's the one coaching against Chuck with a Super Bowl bid at stake.

"We're still professionals, we still respect both of our jobs and our clubs, so we try not to even put ourselves in a situation that would make it uncomfortable," he said. "You've always got to be careful, even knowing family, because you've still got that same goal as everybody else, and that's holding that trophy up at the end of the year."

Should that dream pan out, it'll be a situation that's met with both excitement and hesitance, just like last year's regular-season meeting between the Colts and Chargers in San Diego. (John's Chargers won that one, 19-9.)

"We always dream about that and talk about that, how crazy it would be to meet (in the AFC championship), in that setting, and to do what the Harbaughs did," John Pagano said. "But I think -- look, at the end of the day it comes down to football, but it's not the best feeling when you go against your brother, because someone is going to leave happy and someone is going to leave sad. It's one of those things that we've been dealing with over the years, so we've gotten accustomed to it."

So while John would certainly rather still be coaching than watching from home, he'll be relieved and excited to be able to cheer on Chuck and the Colts this weekend -- and hopefully beyond.

"You're just happy for him to get back to something that he loves doing, something that brings out the passion of him," he said. "That was a long, hard fight and he wasn't going to let his circumstances overcome him to where he couldn't get back. His drive and fight -- he set a date, he set a goal, he set a timeline of what he was going to do, and he got those numbers in his head and he just kept looking forward to that date every day."

"Family is it," John Pagano continued. "Family is always your No. 1 inspiration, and when you have a brother that's in the profession doing what we love to do, teaching and coaching football, I try to model everything that I do around him and see what he's done to gain that success. Every day, he's an inspiration, not only for beating cancer, but he's an inspiration because he's my older brother and he's somebody who I've always looked up to and who has always held himself to the highest standard that you can hold."

And while John won't be in the stands in Foxboro this weekend, you can bet he'll be there in Glendale in two weeks, rooting Chuck on, should Indianapolis live to see another game.

"I'd love to be there (this week), but that's his gig," John said. "That's his team, and I'm a fan for the last couple weekends. ... But it's not every day you have a family member coaching in the Super Bowl, so I will be there front and center for that one."

You can follow Sam Gardner on Twitter or email him at samgardnerfox@gmail.com.