Sal Alosi, the Jets strength coach who lost his job with the Jets for tripping Miami’s Nolan Carroll on the sideline during a punt, received a public endorsement from his old boss on Monday night.
Jets head coach Rex Ryan told David Letterman that he thinks Alosi is a great coach who deserves a second chance.
“Fortunately, the young man wasn’t injured, so that was a good thing,” Ryan said of Carroll. “But it’s unfortunate, we had, I think, the best strength coach in football, and he’s no longer with us right now. It’s unfortunate and hopefully he’ll get another opportunity.”
Letterman’s conversation with Ryan was surprisingly heavy on Xs and Os and football strategy, and Letterman pressed Ryan about how he coaches his punt return team to block the gunners on the opposing team.
“We definitely try to knock him out of bounds, and that’s certainly within the rules,” Ryan said.
And even though Alosi went way beyond the rules, Ryan hopes he’s not done in the NFL.