Mike Pettine is an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

 who currently serves as the defensive coordinator

Defensive coordinator

A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...

 for the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

's New York Jets

New York Jets

The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. He was formerly the outside linebacker

Linebacker

A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...

s coach for the Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

. He joined the Jets after Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan

Rex Ryan

Rex Ryan is an American football head coach for the New York Jets of the National Football League . After serving as an assistant coach for twenty-two years, Ryan attained his first head coaching job in the NFL with the Jets in 2009...

 was named head coach

Head coach

A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...

 of the Jets.

Pettine is the son of famous Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 high school football

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

 coach Mike Pettine Sr. who went 326-42-4 record in 33 seasons and won the AAAA state championship four times at Central Bucks High School West.

Playing

Pettine played free safety at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

, graduating in 1987, after earning all-state honors as a quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 and defensive back for his dad at Central Bucks West.

High school coaching

Pettine coached high school football in Pennsylvania at North Penn

North Penn High School

North Penn High School is a part of the North Penn School District and is located in Towamencin Township, Pennsylvania, about a mile outside of Lansdale borough, 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia, along Valley Forge Road . It operates under the Principal Burton T. Hynes and the school colors are...

 and William Tennent

William Tennent High School

William Tennent High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12, located in Warminster, Pennsylvania, USA.The school is the only public high school serving Warminster and Upper Southampton townships and Ivyland borough in the Centennial School District, located in Bucks County,...

 high schools after working as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 (1993–1994). He also spent four years as an assistant coach for his father, at Central Bucks West High School. In 1999, ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 documented the North Penn football season in a film titled The Season

The Season

The Season may refer to:*Season *The Season *The Seasons - A set of 12 compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky for solo piano, one for each month of the year....

. The film followed the team behind the scenes during the 1999 season and highlighted the rivalry between North Penn and Central Bucks West

Central Bucks West

Central Bucks High School West is the oldest of the three high schools in the Central Bucks School District. CB West, as it is commonly known, is located in the Borough of Doylestown, Pennsylvania in Bucks County. It was constructed in 1952 as the successor to Doylestown High School, which had...

, coached at the time by Pettine's father, Mike Pettine Sr.

Baltimore Ravens

Pettine joined the Ravens in 2001 and was promoted to OLB's coach in 2005 when Ryan became defensive coordinator.

New York Jets

Pettine, Ryan's "right hand man", reportedly received a three year deal to lead the Jets defense. Pettine has been credited with contributing strongly to the Jets number one defense in the NFL in 2009.

External links

• http://www.thejetsblog.com/2009/01/21/buzz-mike-pettine-to-join-rex-ryan/
• http://www.pastatefootballchampions.com/id14.html
• http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/coach/1414-mike-pettine