In his first season as an NFL defensive coordinator, Chuck Pagano has the Ravens tied for third in the league in average points allowed (16.9) and ranked in the top five in categories such as total yards (third, 287.9 yards), rushing yards (second, 90.0), passing yards (fifth, 197.9) and third-down efficiency (first, 30.4 percent).

Which is why suggestions that Pagano could be a candidate for a head-coaching vacancy have already begun to circulate in media circles. But Pagano deflated that trial balloon during his weekly briefing Wednesday.

“No. Not at this point,” Pagano began.

Then, Pagano recalled something his father Sam would say while serving as the head coach at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colo.

“He asked the same question of all the assistants that he ever hired, ‘Is your goal to be a head football coach?’ And he always says if somebody had answered him, ‘Not really. I’m OK just being a position coach,’ I don’t think he really wanted them on the staff because he wanted ambitious guys,” Pagano said. “I think if you asked anybody they’d say, ‘Yeah, that’d be something you always work for and towards.’ So my focus and our focus is on the Cleveland Browns [on Saturday] – period.”