Ravens Coach's Experience Proving Invaluable

"Chuck's a great coach, and he does a great job with these guys," Harbaugh told reporters Wednesday. "He's experienced, but Chuck, even when he was a young coach he was a great coach. I know, because I was young then too. He's always been a talented superstar, secondary coach, defensive backs coach, defensive coach, [head] coach."

Pagano's coaching style already seems to be working on a secondary that is largely very young, save for Marlon Humphrey and newcomer Chidobe Awuzie. First-round rookie Malaki Starks recently shared that Pagano sent him film at 5 a.m. before Monday's practice, and the youngster appreciated that level of dedication.

"I woke up, and I was like, 'OK, cool. That makes sense,'" Starks told reporters Monday. "That's how I want to be coached. I received that very well, so just being able to have somebody like that in my corner, it's a blessing."

Pagano wasn't going to come out of retirement for just any coaching opportunity, it had to be the right one. With how he's approached his second stint in Baltimore so far, it's clear how much it means for him to come back.

"This was just probably the only opportunity that would get me off the couch," Pagano told reporters last week. "A lot of my friends back home said, 'Are you out of your mind? Why would you go back to the grind?' You can't replicate this. You can't replicate the grind."