Mike Pettine

Mike Pettine made a major impact in almost every area of the Buffalo Bills defense.

(David Duprey/AP Photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- No one really knows if Mike Pettine will have more success than Rob Chudzinski, Pat Shurmur or about any other Browns coach since 1999. That's because he's never been a head coach before, and he comes to a losing team with no quarterback.

But I do like Mike Pettine better than Adam Gase and some of the others interviewed by the Browns.

The bulky, bald, tough-talking Pettine sounds like a football coach. He said some of the right things, such as the need to "bloody a nose a bit" to play in the rugged AFC North. I love how he said, "I'll bet on myself ... I'm not backing away from a job" as he considered what the challenge of being the next coach of the NFL's worst franchise since 1999.

I'd have preferred the Browns to stay with Chudzinski, but the ship not only has sailed -- it's sunk. But Pettine has some qualities that are appealing. That's especially true after taking a hard look at Pettine's work as Buffalo's defensive coordinator in 2013.

Pettine took over a Bills defense that ranked 22nd, and moved it up to No. 10. I know, the Browns ranked ninth in total yards allowed, so what's the big deal?

Let's look at what the Browns consider important on defense -- and where the defense fell short last season:

1. RED ZONE: The Browns ranked 30th (64 percent) in allowing touchdowns inside the 20, Buffalo was eighth. In 2012, the Bills ranked No. 31.

2. THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS: The Browns ranked 31st (45 percent), the Bills were 14th (37 percent).

3. SACKS: The Browns ranked 16th (40), the Bills were second (57).

4. INTERCEPTIONS: The Browns ranked 20th (14), the Bills were second (23).

5. POINTS: The Browns were 23rd (25.4), the Bills were 21st (24.2). At least the Bills improved from a 26th ranking a year ago.

The biggest negative was his Bills ranked 28th vs. the run. They were No. 4 vs. the pass.

The reason to start with a look at Pettine's one season in Buffalo is that it's at least something tangible. The Bills were a lousy defense in most categories when he arrived. In one season, he made them a good defense.

Profootballfocus.com rated Buffalo's defense as No. 4 in the NFL. They had the Browns at No. 21.

It was the Rex Ryan who really set Mike Pettine on the road to being considered for a head coaching position.

Leaving Ryan

There is a tendency to view him as a Rex Ryan creation. I know that was true of me when I first heard him mentioned for the job.

It's a fact: No Rex Ryan, no discussion of Pettine with the Browns.

Pettine was a video coordinator with the Ravens in 2002 when he met Ryan. By 2004, he was Ryan's defensive line coach, and later the outside linebackers coach.

Talking to people in Baltimore, I learned that Ryan was terrible with computers and technology. Pettine had been helping his father (legendary Pennsylvania high school coach Mike Pettine Sr.) edit game tapes almost from the time he began to watch television.

Pettine's high-tech background probably appeals to the Browns' front office, which loves stats and computers.

When Ryan became head coach of the Jets in 2009, he took Pettine with him -- as defensive coordinator. The Jets had outstanding defenses from 2009-12, ranking as high as No. 1 and never lower than eighth. But it was impossible to know how much of that was due to Ryan, and how much was Pettine.

It's the same as viewing the defensive coordinators under Bill Belichick. Yes, they have influence, but it's Belichick's defense. Or even Gase with the Denver Broncos. In his one year as coordinator, how much was Gase and how much of the success is due to the vast impact on and off the field of Peyton Manning?

But in Buffalo, there was no doubt -- the defense belonged to Pettine.

It was why Pettine left the Jets for the Bills -- to establish his own identity. He was offered a contract extension by the Jets, but turned it down and went into his final season (2012) planning to become a free agent. He was hired by Bills coach Doug Marrone, whose background was offense. His defenses were a 3-4 base, but they used a variety of formations. In terms of the type of players the Browns have, Pettine seems to be a good fit.

One of his worst games was a 37-24 loss to the Browns. In that game, the Browns scored on a 79-yard Travis Benjamin punt return and an interception by T.J. Ward. Only two touchdowns were allowed by the Bills defense, but it was certainly not a monumental effort by Buffalo that night in Cleveland.

Not the first choice

If the Browns were truly in love with Pettine, they would have hired him a week after Chudzinski was fired. He was available right after the season because the Bills missed the playoffs. They were pursuing Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Josh McDaniels, Gase and others before Pettine emerged. They might be unwise to claim that Pettine was their choice right from the start.

But the 47 year old may end up being a better pick than some of those other coaches.

He was a head coach in high school for six years. He was 45-15 at North Penn High, and five of those losses were to his father's Central Bucks West team. Mike Pettine Sr. won 326 games and four state titles in 33 years as a high school coach.

In order to create his own reputation, Pettine had to step out of his father's huge high school shadow before escaping Ryan's in the NFL.

Pettine has been driven to prove he's "not just a high school coach."

He's smart enough to know football is "not about winning the press conference." That's especially true in Cleveland, where fans have heard too many introductory coaching press conferences since 1999. Fans have heard it all from podium, but seen so little to cheer about on the field. Pettine knows that.

It's impossible to guess how Pettine will fare. He'll obviously need a strong offensive coordinator and for the Browns to find him a quarterback, or he has no chance.

But he does bring both experience and success to the defensive side of the ball and he seems utterly fearless about the challenge that he faces here. At least that's a decent start.