When one door closes, another door opens — and sometimes it’s a door with one of the NFL’s best defenses waiting on the other side.

Such is the case for Chuck Pagano, who was hired as the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator in January following Vic Fangio’s departure to fulfill his head coaching dreams in Denver.

But before Pagano was hired by the Bears, he spent a year on the bench following a 6-year stint as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Pagano led the Colts to a 53-43 regular-season record, including six playoff appearances, as well as an appearance in the 2014 AFC Championship Game before being fired last offseason.

“I’m not bitter,” Pagano told Peter King. “I’m better. [Colts owner] Jim Irsay and I have a relationship for life. I love Jim Irsay. I love the organization. At some point coaches have to say goodbye to teams, and teams have to say goodbye to coaches. If you win, you keep your job, and if not, they move in a different direction. I never took it personal.”

The Colts’ decision to move on opened the door for Pagano’s arrival to Chicago a year later, where he gets to lead the charge on defense for one of the league’s most storied franchises.

“And now I get to coach with one of the great franchises in sports, the Chicago Bears,” he said. “I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

Pagano is no doubt thrilled with the opportunity he’s walking into to coach players like Khalil Mack, Eddie Jackson, Akiem Hicks, Kyle Fuller and Roquan Smith, among a slew of others on an incredibly talented defense.

While Pagano isn’t going to reinvent the wheel, he is going to infuse some of his own philosophies on defense. Whether that’s more blitzing, more man-to-man or getting a little more creative, expect Pagano to run things differently than the departed Fangio.