The Chicago Bears are considered Super Bowl contenders heading into 2019, and while their offense is improved, the main reason so many people like them is because of their defense.

The Bears ranked third in the NFL in defense this past year and and rode that unit to 12 wins and an NFC North division title.

However, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio left to take the Denver Broncos head-coaching job, and Chicago went out and hired former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano as his replacement.

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Obviously, there are some big shoes for Pagano to fill, and he understands that he is coming into a situation where he has high expectations:

“We all know what we signed up for,” Pagano said, according to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com. “Players and coaches, we understand what the expectations are. It's really change the changeable, except the unchangeable, right? And remove whatever's not good. So we're going to work our tails off and do the best we can day in and day out. Exhaust all resources to make sure we don't do ‘this' and we keep doing ‘this' and make sure that this team is successful and we do our job.”

Pagano took a year off from coaching in 2018, but he was last seen going 4-12 at the helm for the Colts in 2017. Of course, that number is a bit misleading, as Indianapolis was without starting quarterback Andrew Luck or the entire season.

Now, Pagano is stepping into a bit of a different situation, and he seems perfectly fine with that:

“I walked into the very best situation — I said it once, I’ll say it a thousand times — that anybody could walk into,” Pagano said. “Now it’s just my job, our job, the staff’s job, we always talk about us. It’s unity over self. It’s all of us.”

One thing is for sure: if the Bears' defense plays like it did this past season, Chicago will absolutely be a Super Bowl contender.