BEREA, Ohio — Mike Pettine’s thoughts are never far from Rex Ryan or the Jets.
Even after a stop in Buffalo last year and his out-of-nowhere (even to him) selection as coach of the Browns six months ago, Pettine still sounds wistful when talking about his four-season stint as Gang Green’s defensive coordinator under Ryan.
“I’ve drawn a lot from other coaches I’ve been around, but most of my philosophy and what I do falls back to my time with Rex in New York,” Pettine told The Post on Sunday after the second day of training camp.
Pettine, 47, doesn’t try to hide that, either. Anyone who has attended a Jets practice under Ryan could close his eyes at Browns camp and swear he’s in Florham Park instead.
The same odd mix of rock, rap and country blares at deafening volume from giant speakers. The pace on the field, meanwhile, is loose and low key, with Pettine — like Ryan — focused almost entirely on the defense.
Even Pettine’s press conferences sound familiar, thanks to his frequent references to expecting his players to “Play like a Brown” — a direct takeoff on Ryan’s “Play Like a Jet” mantra.
That’s not a surprise, considering Pettine was a former high school coach in Pennsylvania toiling in the Ravens’ video department when Ryan helped him get into position coaching in Baltimore and then brought him along when he was hired by the Jets in 2009.
Pettine said he and Rex were so tight he even helped put together the formal presentation Ryan gave the Jets in his audition for the job — a presentation Pettine said he copied when he interviewed with the Browns.
“We had the format for it and I just said, ‘Let’s do it on my terms and put my information into it,’ ’’ Pettine said.
Pettine claims he and Ryan are still close, but that friendship appeared to be tested last month when Sports Illustrated’s MMQB.com site posted an interview with Pettine in which he appeared to make fun of his old boss.
Pettine told the site he had intentionally streamlined the Browns’ playbook because Ryan would “give them out like candy” with the Jets. Pettine theorized Ryan’s sloppiness had enabled Bill Belichick and the rival Patriots to get hold of it because Ryan had given copies to Nick Saban, Belichick’s good friend.
Ryan was apparently angered by the story, saying he didn’t understand what Pettine “was trying to gain out it.”
Pettine told The Post he only regretted how the remarks came out — not that he had made them in the first place — and that he’s spoken with Ryan and smoothed over the situation.
“We’re OK with that,” Pettine said. “We talked about it.”
Pettine appeared to be more concerned with Belichick’s reaction to the controversy than Ryan’s.
“I have a ton of respect for Bill and what they’ve done in New England,” Pettine said. “It was more half-joking. I didn’t want it to come out as they in any way, shape or form obtained it illegally.”
It was just one of the latest brushfires for Pettine since the Browns shocked the league by hiring him in January after several potential choices had embarrassingly turned them down.
Much of Pettine’s time seems to be spent dealing with the fallout from Johnny Manziel’s latest off-the-field antics, although Pettine said he was “entirely on board” with the decision to draft the controversial Texas A&M quarterback in May.
Pettine has drawn flack for trying to rein in Manziel’s personality and limit the media attention (taking lessons he said he learned from the Jets’ handling of Tim Tebow), but he isn’t apologizing for it.
“I don’t want to feed into it,” Pettine said of the media focus on Manziel. “The fire is burning, but we just don’t want to throw gas on it right now. Johnny very easily could be the starter here, and he’ll get all the exposure anybody could want when that happens.”
Pettine said he expects — like Ryan with the Jets — to take a hands-off role with the Browns’ offense, entrusting offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan with the bulk of the decisions.
Pettine, who is the Browns’ third head coach in as many seasons, appears comfortable in his new role and popular with players and management.
“One of our guys come in and said, ‘Mike looks like he’s been doing this for years,’’ Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said Saturday. “He’s exactly what we need, and I think he’ll be a really good coach.”