Markus Paul, the former Jets strength and conditioning coach who most recently held the same position with the Dallas Cowboys, died on Wednesday. He was 54.
Before Paul became a coach, he was a solid safety. He played at Syracuse in the late Eighties and set the Orange career record for interceptions in a career with 19. He was a two-time Jim Thorpe Award finalist and was named to SU's All-Century Team in 1999.
He was selected in the fourth round of the 1989 draft by Chicago and played his first 4 and played his first 4½ NFL seasons with the Bears before finishing his playing career with the Buccaneers. His career log read 71 games played (15 starts) with seven INTs.
Paul entered coaching in 1998 as New Orleans' assistant strength and conditioning coach, then moved to New England with the same title in 2000.
After the '04 season, he came to the Jets and served as director of physical development under head coaches Herman Edwards in '05 and Eric Mangini on the playoff-bound Jets in '06. He then moved to the Giants for 12 seasons as their strength assistant and took the Cowboys' head strength position in 2018.
