How Jets legend Nick Mangold began second football life

While pacing Delbarton School’s Regan Stadium, Nick Mangold cracked a smile. The legendary Jets center, now donning a backward gray Delbarton baseball cap, scanned the field before tweaking the blocking stance of an offensive lineman during a late October practice.About a 45-minute drive from where he made a name for himself at MetLife Stadium, Mangold is now tackling the newest stage of his life — working as an O-line coach for the Green Wave.The seven-time Pro Bowler sees high school football as the “sweet spot” of coaching after retiring in 2016 following a career where he cemented himself as one of the best centers in the sport and received a Jets Ring of Honor.“You get to mold boys into men and teach the game of football — but also teach them a little bit about life as you go along,” Mangold told The Post.“Once you get to college, you start to become a little bit more business.

And especially the NFL, it’s a straight business.”“There’s still some purity in high school football, and that’s what I really enjoy about it.”Mangold’s pro experience and knowledge has helped lead Delbarton, a top-tier team in New Jersey, to a 7-2 record this season as they make another playoff push on Nov.16 against St.

Augustine after falling short of a state title last year.During his time at Delbarton, Mangold has already shown the ability to break down complex schemes and make them “seem easy” to high school kids.It has helped hone the skills of new starters along the offensive line throughout the season, Delbarton head coach Brian Bowers told The Post.“Nick is incredibly able to probably coach a lot of things — kind of what we do with zone offense, gap scheme and the pass protection,” Bowers said.

“These are things Nick could do at the high school level, college level or professional level.And I think the beauty of Nick is that he has the ability to really understand where our kids are developmentally and really stretch their abilitie...