NY Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan Chooses Staff

After the New York Jets monumental collapse last season and with a ton of Personal Seat Licenses yet to be sold for their new stadium, owner Woody Johnson and General Manager Mike Tannenbaum decided it was time for a coaching change.

Head Coach Eric Mangini, dubbed “Mangenius” for about a split second, had a laid back style that that many blamed for the Jets troubles. So when the Jets selected Rex Ryan, the polar opposite of Mangini, as their new head coach it wasn’t much of a surprised.

With Ryan now at the helm, coaching positions needed to be filled. Brian Schottenheimer was able to keep his job running the offense while oft criticized Defensive Coordinator Bob Sutton was demoted to linebackers coach.

Ryan still had some positions that needed to be filled and it was expected that he would do his best to raid the Ravens coaching staff. To a certain extent he did, but was able to keep some coaches the he deemed worthy from the Mangini era and earlier.

Mike Pettine - Defensive Coordinator

Pettine, referred to by Ryan as, “a rising star in this league,” has over 20 years of coaching experience. He has worked with Ryan on the Baltimore Ravens coaching staff since 2002 and has spent the past four seasons coaching outside linebackers. Over the past four seasons, the Ravens defense has finished no worse then sixth in total defense, finishing first in 2006 and second this past season.

Like Ryan, Pettine started his coaching career in 1988 as a defensive assistant with his father, Mike Pettine Sr., at Central Bucks West High School in Doylestown, PA, where he stayed for five years.

It was from there that Pettine served two years as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh under Head Coach Johnny Majors before taking the head coaching position at William Tennent High School in Warminster, PA.

Prior to joining the Ravens, Pettine spent five seasons at North Penn High School in Towamencin Township, PA, winning 45 games in that time. In 1999 his team was featured in ESPN’s documentary called, “The Season” and went 11-2, losing their only two games to his fathers Central Bucks West High, who went on to win the state championship.

Brian Schottenheimer- Offensive Coordinator

Brian Schottenheimer, a former backup quarterback at the University of Florida, was one of the coaches retained from the Mangini era. Schottenheimer was hired as the Jets offensive coordinator in 2006.

In 2008 the Jets, with Schottenheimer running their offense, scored 405 points (only the third time the Jets have scored 400 or more points in a season) with 42 touchdowns. Jets running back Thomas Jones led the AFC in rushing with 1,312 yards and the offense ranked 16^th in the NFL in total yards and ninth in rushing yards (both team high’s since 2004).

Although the Jets offense had some success last year, Schottenheimer was gravely criticized for his play calling. Many believed that Ryan would go in a different direction with the position, while others feel that the option to change offensive coordinators was never his.

Schottenheimer started his professional coaching career in 1997 as an offensive assistant with the St. Louis Rams. From there he coached with his father, Marty Schottenheimer, in 1998 as offensive assistant/quality control coach for the Kansas City Chiefs and as quarterbacks coach with the Washington Redskins in 2001.

“Schotty,” as he is referred to by his players, coached wide receivers at Syracuse University in 1999 and tutored tight ends at the University of Southern California in 2001 before following his father to the San Diego Chargers in 2002 where he spent four years as quarterbacks coach.

Matt Cavanaugh- Quarterbacks Coach

Matt Cavanaugh comes to the Jets after spending four seasons as the offensive coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh, where he was named the top offensive coordinator in the Big East by The Sporting News in 2007.

Like Pettine, Cavanaugh has ties to Rex Ryan from his time spent as offensive coordinator in Baltimore from 1999-2004.

Another similarity shared between Pettine and Cavanaugh is that they were both mentored by Head Coach Johnny Majors at the University of Pittsburgh. Cavanaugh began his career there as tight ends coach in 1993.

Before joining the Ravens, Cavanaugh was the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears (1997-98) and quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers (1996) and the Arizona Cardinals (1994-95).

"If I can bring in a guy with 16 years NFL experience and, let's just say two Super Bowls, I'd bring that guy in. And that's what I did in hiring Matt Cavanaugh," Ryan said when questioned about the lack of a veteran presence at the quarterback position on the team. "I'm very comfortable with Matt being the mentor to our quarterbacks."

Cavanaugh earned Super Bowl rings as a backup quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers in 1985 and with the New York Giants in 1991 and as a coach with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001.

Mike Westhoff- Special Teams Coordinator

Another holdover from the Mangini Era is Special Teams Coordinator Mike Westhoff. Westhoff, regarded as one of the best special teams coaches in the league, is entering his ninth season with the Jets.

Westhoff stepped down from the position at the end of the 2007 season due to health issues, handing the position to Kevin O’Dea and in 2008 rejoined the team as special teams coordinator.  Both will keep the same positions for the 2009 season with the Jets.

From 2001-2008 the Jets 11 kickoffs returned for touchdowns are the most in the NFL and in 2006, under Westhoff, the Jets didn’t allow a punt returned over 18 yards.

Prior to joining the Jets, Westhoff spent 15 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. From 1996-1999 he produced the top-ranked punt and kickoff coverage units in the league and in 2000 he was voted by his peers as NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year.

Westhoff began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Indiana University, where he also earned his masters degree in educational psychology in 1974. He was the freshman coach at Indiana in 1975 before moving on to coach the offensive line at the University of Dayton in 1976.