Jets assistant uses camp to reach out to LI kids

The traditional ties between the Jets and Long Island have been renewed this week in a small but meaningful way thanks to assistant coach Mike Devlin. His third annual youth football camp is in progress at Mount Sinai High School, where some 250 kids had a chance to meet the Jets' defensive rookies, including cornerback Kyle Wilson, their No. 1 draft pick, Tuesday evening.

When Jets owner Woody Johnson moved the NFL team's headquarters from Hofstra University to its state-of-the-art training facility in Florham Park, N.J., two years ago, Devlin decided to deal with the commute rather than uproot his wife and four kids from their home in Mount Sinai. At the same time, he got the idea for the camp.

"I know there are a lot of Jets fans in this part of the Island," Devlin said. "When I heard the Jets were leaving the Island, I thought, 'How do I get the Jets back in here?' We've still got to fight that Giants thing. The first year, we were able to do some good with the charities, and now, it's evolving."

The first camp began with 125 kids and now has doubled in size, attracting several area teams involved with Suffolk PAL Youth Football. Devlin has brought in several local coaches from the high school to the college level, and thanks to strong support from local sponsors, he's able to bring in Jets rookies and even Jets cheerleaders for the clinic. Second-round offensive lineman Vladimir Ducasse was among the offensive players who attended Monday's session.

"It's a great opportunity for the kids to learn football from great coaches in addition to meeting the Jets," said camp director Jeff Koutsantanou, an assistant varsity football coach at Port Jefferson High School. "The best thing is that all the local youth programs work together."

A significant portion of the proceeds from the camp go to charity. Friends of Karen, which provides support for children diagnosed with cancer and other life-threatening diseases and has a Long Island office in Port Jeff, is the primary charity, but two local families that have suffered recently also will benefit.

It's Devlin's way of giving back to a community his family loves.

"I moved around a bunch from playing and coaching, and I really liked the people here," said Devlin, who made the transition from Eric Mangini to new coach Rex Ryan's staff.