How can I create the views pager on top and bottom of the view? I need two view pagers / pagination to sandwich the view content or view results.

Is it possible to duplicate view pagers/pagination ? 

What i've done is just printed out the pagers in the template twice; however, that requires me to hardcode the pager.

I need a little more flexibility because I'm required to build / place the top pager in different spots on different pages.

Could this be accomplished with views display (suite) somehow and a code field? I've attempted one and had no luck.
I think you are on the right track by editing the views template files. Do you know you can have a different template for each view, or each views display? When you are editing your view there is a link called "theme information" that will help you figure out how to name the templates.

Now, If you mean you need to have the pager in different places on page 1 of this display vs page 2 of the same display, you will have to dig inside the view object to figure out which page you're on in order to figure that out.

I also found this tutorial while Googling the answer:
http://www.adesignforlife.net/articles/drupal-tutorials/solution-how-print-pager-drupal-views-block