CORTLAND — Who is Dennis Thurman and what does he do?
He has been a trusted Rex Ryan lieutenant for longer than most couples stay married and he currently is the Jets’ defensive coordinator, elevated to that post when Mike Pettine left for Buffalo after last season.
The question for Thurman, as it was for Pettine in the four years he held that post, is whether he truly is the Jets defensive coordinator, or if that is merely his title in a human resources file in Florham Park.
This has been an underlying story to the Rex Ryan Jets since the head coach was hired in 2009, because defense is what Rex does. It is what he is known for, what he has built his reputation on.
So, whatever the Jets have done on defense the last four years, has universally been assumed by those of us who are not in the team meetings to be Ryan pulling the strings behind the big green curtain, not the work of his defensive coordinator.
Thurman, who played nine years in the NFL and carved out a commendable career (36 interceptions) before turning to coaching, has been an accomplished secondary coach for Ryan, overseeing one of the best groups of defensive backs in the league for the last four years.
But, come Week 1, when the Jets play Tampa Bay, will Thurman really be coordinating the defense?
No one really knows and, from the way Thurman sounded yesterday when he spoke to The Post, he doesn’t seem to care about the perception.
“That doesn’t faze me,’’ Thurman said. “I want to win more than anything else. I love winning. This is our defense. It’s ours. It’s not about mine, it’s about ours. I’ve been a team guy all my life.’’
Though he is in charge of more now than he was as the secondary coach, Thurman said his input will continue to be a factor. The question, of course, is whether his input will be increased as the coordinator.
Further adding to the speculation Thurman’s overseeing the defense might be diminished is the fact Ryan has been vocal this offseason about his plans to get back to the basics of his rookie year as head coach, when he was virtually hands-on with the defense.
Ryan, trying to mold himself into a more well-rounded head coach the last couple of years, attempted to branch out into the offense more by going to more meetings and having more input.
Having seen how poorly that worked out, he’s is retreating to his original mode, which is defense first and letting offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg handle the offense.
That leaves you to further wonder how much say-so Thurman will have. There were reasons why Pettine left the Jets to take the same job with the Bills, and one of them surely was the opportunity to run his own shop, out of the prolific Ryan’s shadow.
“Dennis is the defensive coordinator,’’ Ryan said Thursday. “As far as installing, it’s all based on us. This is our defense, the New York Jet defense, and we do things collectively. I may be the original presenter, but certainly I can’t be in every single meeting. We have a great staff, and we lean on our staff.’’
How much he leans on Thurman will be one of the many fascinating subplots to the season.
However large or small Thurman’s role turns out to be, his track record as an assistant is strong — for several reasons, beginning with the fact he connects to his players in a unique way as a former player.
Thurman seems to be a perfect fit alongside Ryan’s larger-than-life persona because he is not an attention-seeker.
He never has been one of those assistant coaches obsessed with where his next job is going to be.“Here’s a guy that is so humble he never put himself out there, which is good for us, because we don’t want to lose him,’’ Ryan said. “He’s one of the smartest guys in the league and he has that wealth of experience with the defense. The fact we’ve been side-by-side for at least 10 years, we know each other well.
“We’re one in the same. We think the exact same way. I think that’s really a good thing for us.’’