Pettine Jr. to receive lifetime achievement award

The Pettine name has been synonymous with the sport of football throughout the region for years. The late Mike Pettine was a star player at Conshohocken High and Villanova University, then made a national name as a football coach at Central Bucks West High School and was in the second class of inductees in the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame.

Now his son, Mike Pettine Jr. will stand in the spotlight when he receives the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16th annual induction banquet on Tuesday, November 21 at Normandy Farm in Blue Bell.

Pettine Jr. played football for his father at CB West, earning allstate honors as a quarterback and defensive back. He then played free safety for the University of Virginia.

After graduating from college,

he embarked on his own very distinguished coaching career.

After serving as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh, he became an assistant to his father at CB West. He followed with head coaching jobs at North Penn High School and William Tennent High School. After a short, but successful high school coaching career, he took a position as a scout in 2001 for the Baltimore Ravens and began a career in the National Football League. He was promoted to linebacker coach in 2005.

Under head coach Rex Ryan, Pettine became the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets in 2009 and was credited with contributing strongly to the team’s ranking as the No. 1 defense in the NFL that year. He then went to the Buffalo Bills as defensive coordinator for one year in 2013.

In 2014 he was hired as head coach of the Cleveland Browns and spent two seasons in that position.

Though Pettine’s term of service as a coach in Montgomery County was not long enough to qualify him for induction into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame (reserved for those born in the county or who coached 10 years in the county), Pettine’s contributions to the local football scene made him a candidate for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to the celebration of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Pettine Jr. on the night of the banquet, there also will be a special tribute made to his father, who died on February 24 of this year.

“There was unanimous support for both of these motions at our Selection Committee meeting,” said Dale Hood, president of the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame. “The amount of respect for both the father and son throughout the community is amazing.”

When contacted about the award, and the accompanying tribute to his father, Pettine Jr. was quite moved.

“This will be a very special evening for myself and my family,” said Pettine. “I feel very honored to be recognized by the same organization that inducted my father.”

In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award, Pettine will join a quartet of new inductees on the dais at the November banquet. They include Plymouth Whitemarsh High School basketball coach Jim Donofrio, retired Souderton High boys’ volleyball coach Will Lapp, Gwynedd Mercy Academy girls’ basketball coach Tom Lonergan and Methacton High softball and girls’ tennis coach Cathy Miller.

The four members of the new induction class, along with the yet-to-beannounced members of the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame Honor Roll (for volunteer coaches) will be inducted at the November 21 banquet.

Tickets for the banquet are available for purchase by contacting any member of the Hall of Fame Advisory Board. Additional information can be obtained by going to the website – www. mcchof.com or by calling the banquet management office at 610-279-9220.

“This will be a very special evening for myself and my family. I feel very honored to be recognized by the same organization that inducted my father.” — Mike Pettine Jr.