Breaking Down the New York Jets Coaching Staff

When the Jets take the field in Houston on Sept. 13, there will certainly be a lot of new high-profile faces amongst them. But there will also be a number of new faces pacing the sideline under new head coach Rex Ryan.

Just days after the Jets’ late-season collapse was solidified with a devastating 24-17 loss to the Dolphins in the last game of the season, head coach Eric Mangini was promptly shown the door.

Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan was brought in as Mangini’s replacement. 

As the Jets look to open a new chapter in the team’s history, here are a few members of the coaching staff that will be instrumental to any success the Jets experience in the coming years.

Rex Ryan (Head Coach)

Needless to say, in the NFL, the buck stops with the head coach.

No matter what the reasons may be behind a team’s struggles, the blame ultimate falls on one man—the head coach.

The same is also true of any success a team experiences. Just look at Tom Coughlin.  

Giant’s fans were sharpening their pitch forks in 2006, chasing Coughlin out of town in 2007, and then praising him as a football God after the Giant’s unlikely Super Bowl victory in January of 2008.

Ryan comes to New York with 13 years of NFL coaching experience under his belt.

Ryan spent his first two season coaching under his father, Buddy Ryan, who was then the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

In 1999, Ryan joined Brian Billick’s coaching staff in Baltimore and immediately played a central role in helping the Ravens create one of the most devastating defenses in NFL history.

Ryan spent the 2008 season as the Raven’s assistant head coach and defensive coordinator and was the only member of the coaching staff still remaining from Baltimore’s 2000 Super Bowl victory over the Giants.

During Ryan’s ten years in Baltimore, the Raven’s defense never ranked lower than sixth in the NFL.

Ryan comes into New York as one of the most highly respected football minds in the game. 

There are a lot of question marks surrounding the Jets as the 2009 season approaches, and being a rookie head coach, Ryan himself could actually be considered one of those question marks.

A quick and easy transition by Ryan into the role of head coach will be vitally important for the Jets this season.

It’s a new era in Jets football, and Rex Ryan will be playing a leading role in this next chapter of the team’s history.

Mike Pettine (Defensive Coordinator)

Being a defensive guy himself, it’s no surprise that the first move made by Ryan as head coach of the Jets was to hire Raven’s outside linebacker coach, Mike Pettine, as his defensive coordinator.

Ryan often refers to Pettine as his “right-hand man” and Pettine was even present at the Jet’s press conference announcing Rex Ryan as their new head coach in January.

Pettine began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh back in 1993 before heading to Warminister, Pennsylvania to coach the William Tennant High School football team.

After two seasons as the head coach at William Tennant High School, Pettine moved to Towamencin Township, just outside of Philadelphia, to take a head coaching job at North Penn High School.

Pettine coached North Penn to 45 wins in five years and really began to gain some recognition when his team was featured on an ESPN documentary called The Season in 1999.

Pettine first hooked up with Ryan in 2002, when he was hired by Baltimore to develop scouting reports and video analysis for the Ravens' defensive coaching staff.

Pettine made an immediate impression on Ryan and in less than three years he was promoted to assist Ryan in coaching he Raven’s defensive line.

Pettine has spent the last four seasons as the Raven’s outside linebackers coach and played a key role in orchestrating a Raven’s defense that was second in the NFL in yards allowed last season.

One of the Jets’ weakest links last season was the secondary. General Manager Mike Tennenbaum did his part during the off-season by bringing in two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Lito Sheppard as well as Ravens' safety Jim Leonhard.

Now, Pettine will need to take the reins and improve a secondary that was the deciding factor in several Jets’ losses in 2008.

Dennis Thurman (Defensive Back/Secondary Coach)

Mike Pettine will be orchestrating the Jets’ defense in 2009, but he will be relying heavily on Dennis Thurman to improve a secondary that was the Jets’ Achilles heel for most of the 2008 season.

Thurman was drafted by the Cowboys in 1978 and proceeded to spend eight seasons with the Cowboys and one with the Cardinals before retiring with 36 career interceptions and a Super Bowl ring he had gained as a member of the 1979 Cowboys.

Thurman first arrived on Rex Ryan’s radar screen back in Arizona back in 1988 where he served as the defensive backs coach.

Thurman left the NFL in 1993 to coach defensive backs at his alma mater, USC, where he spent eight years before hooking up again with Rex Ryan in Baltimore.

Thurman has spent the last six seasons with the Raven’s, during which time he was responsible for a defensive back core that led the NFL with 126 interceptions.

If there is anyone that can come in and immediately turn around the Jets’ secondary, it’s Dennis Thurman.

Brian Schottenheimer (Offensive Coordinator)

The development of the Jets’ high-priced quarterback of the future will take place directly under Brian Schottenheimer’s supervision—could any coach, other than Ryan, be more important to the team’s future?

Schottenheimer is one of the few coaches to remain on the Jets’ staff after Mangini was run out of town earlier in the year.

One of the main reasons Ryan decided to retain Schottenheimer as the team’s offensive coordinator was because of his success in the development of young quarterbacks.

Prior to joining the Jets’ coaching staff in 2006, Schottenheimer served as the quarterbacks coach in San Diego, where he was instrumental in the development of Charges quarterback Drew Brees.

Schottenheimer continued his success with quarterbacks in 2006, where he guided Chad Pennington through a season during which he completed 65 percent of his passes and threw for more than 3,000 yards.

Last year, with Brett Favre at the helm, Schottenheimer orchestrated an offense that scored more than 400 points for just the third time in team history.

The Jets’ haven’t had a quarterback as high profile as Mark Sanchez in a very, very long time and his development is in the hands of Brian Schottenheimer.

Schottenheimer has yet to disappoint when it comes to the successful development of talented young quarterback, so why should things be any different with Mark Sanchez?

Well, the Jets are certainly hoping that nothing at all will be different in Mark Sanchez’s development.

Matt Cavanaugh (Quarterbacks Coach)

Although Brian Schottenheimer will be overseeing the development of Mark Sanchez, he will be relying on quarterback coach, Matt Cavanaugh, to handle the day-to-day work with Sanchez.

Cavanaugh is also a former member of the Baltimore Ravens staff, though he joins the Jets’ coaching staff via the University of Pittsburgh, where he had served as the offensive coordinator for the past four years.

When Sanchez has a question or concern, Matt Cavanaugh will be his first point of contact.

If Sanchez is having trouble digesting the play book, it’s Cavanaugh that will be responsible for making sure he learns it.

If Sanchez is having trouble executing plays properly, it’s Cavanaugh that will need to take him aside and work him through it.

Of all the members of the Jets’ coaching staff, it will be Cavanaugh that has the most direct contact with Mark Sanchez.

Brian Schottenheimer will certainly have a very large hand in Sanchez’s development, but Cavanaugh will also play a central role in the process.

As you can see, aside from the usual suspects such as the head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, the most important members of the Jets’ coaching staff will be Dennis Thurman and Matt Cavanaugh, as they will be responsible for two of the biggest question marks facing the Jets as the 2009 season approaches.