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O'Connor: Doug Williams discovered a coach in a safety named Todd Bowles ~ ~ ~


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Doug Williams never knew the finer points of what it took to play safety in the NFL -- not that it really mattered. When he watched from the Washington sideline as Todd Bowles covered receivers in a 1987 season that would meet a historic end, Williams did not see a defensive back.

"I saw a quarterback," he said.

The first African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl was quite familiar with the intricacies of that position. Having played under Hall of Famers Eddie Robinson (Grambling State) and Joe Gibbs (Washington), Williams had also spent enough quality time with natural-born coaches to know one when he saw one. So when Morehouse College made him a head coach for the first time in 1997, Williams had only one man in mind to run his defense.

But he didn't have Bowles at hello.

Williams had been a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Bowles had been a scout for the Green Bay Packers. "Come coach with me," Williams told him.

"Man, I don't know," Bowles responded. "I don't think I want it."

"Come on, man," Williams said. "You can do this."

Williams ultimately talked Bowles into believing he had the requisite savvy and motivational skills to be a coach. They were together for one season at Morehouse and then for two at Grambling before the new head coach of the New York Jets, Al Groh, called Williams to ask for permission to speak with his defensive coordinator. Williams told Groh he didn't need permission.

"Just hire him," he said.

Fifteen long NFL years later, Bowles is the rookie head coach of the Jets, and he's already making a strong impression around the league. For starters, it only took Bowles four games to expedite the removal of one AFC East rival (Joe Philbin). He is 3-1 without a first-string quarterback to speak of, and he has already proven himself capable of managing multiple crises (the Sheldon Richardson suspension, the locker room punchout of Geno Smith) with a steady hand.

As a personnel executive with Washington, the Jets' next opponent, Williams has watched with considerable pride. "No question, I'm living through Todd now," he said, which is kind of funny because an entire generation of African-American players, coaches and executives once lived through Williams.He routed John Elway's Broncos in Super Bowl XXII, overcoming a Saturday root canal and an early Sunday knee injury to ring up 42 unanswered points, including 35 in the second quarter, and to throw for four touchdowns (all in that quarter) and what was then a record 340 yards. Of greater significance, of course, were the vile racial stereotypes he shredded in the process. Robinson, the Grambling legend, found his old quarterback in the tunnel of Jack Murphy Stadium that night and told Williams that what he'd just accomplished reminded Robinson of Joe Louis' knockout of Max Schmeling in Yankee Stadium in 1938.

Bowles shared in the experience as the Redskins' starting free safety. "We had three interceptions against Elway in that game," Williams recalled by phone the other day, "and a lot of that was Todd Bowles. Todd wasn't the most talented guy on the field, but he was the quarterback of that defense. He played smart and made sure guys were always in position."You weren't looking for Todd to be a Deion Sanders. But if you had a Deion Sanders on your team, you'd want Todd back there to put him in the right place."

As a defensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals, Bowles would put enough players in enough of the right places to earn his standing as one of the league's best assistants. He made perfect sense for the Jets as an even-tempered antidote to Rex Ryan, who had blustered his way to four straight non-winning seasons. And yet Bowles wasn't Woody Johnson's first choice for the job -- the owner was initially hot on Doug Marrone. Although he went to high school in nearby Elizabeth, N.J., Bowles wasn't even the preferred candidate from the Garden State -- Johnson reportedly favored Morristown, N.J.'s Dan Quinn, now 4-0 with Atlanta.But Jets fans don't care anymore that Johnson likely would have hired Quinn had his Seattle Seahawks lost earlier in the playoffs. They only care that Bowles has won three games by a combined 47 points in a parity league, and that he has provided the poise and consistency that were forever lacking under the combustible Ryan, who might've requested a ticker-tape parade after beating the Dolphins in London.

Bowles ?

"We haven't accomplished anything," he said after the victory that sealed Philbin's fate.

Yes, it's early, and Jets fans have endured too much pain and punishment to count on much of anything just yet. But for the optimists in that notoriously pessimistic bunch, Williams did point out that his guy is actually 5-2 as a head coach -- Bowles won two of three games for the 2011 Dolphins as the interim replacement for the fired Tony Sparano."Todd never gets ruffled by anything," Williams said. "When he gets mad, he doesn't get carried away. The same guy you see today is the guy you're going to see tomorrow, and he's not going to worry about being a personality. Nobody's going to carry himself better than Todd, and he's never given anybody any ammunition to tell you a story about him. So he really likes Gladys Knight. That's about all you're going to get."

Bowles was firm in firing the Jet who broke Geno Smith's jaw, IK Enemkpali, and in expressing disappointment in a starting quarterback who didn't have the big-picture sense to pay off a small debt in the name of team harmony ("It takes two to tango," the coach said). Bowles was also firm in committing to Ryan Fitzpatrick as long as the journeyman keeps winning and in eliminating the very evil -- penalties -- that Bowles' predecessor, Ryan, treats in Buffalo as some twisted badge of honor.

"Todd's never going to B.S. you," Williams said. He remains in constant touch with his former assistant, texting him after victories here and abroad.

"We're like big brother, little brother," Williams said.

Bowles has often talked of his admiration for Williams and of how his former boss taught him the proper way for coaches to relate to players. Williams won 52 of 70 games and three conference titles over six seasons at Grambling before taking a front-office job with the NFL team that drafted him, Tampa Bay. Williams returned to Grambling in 2011, immediately won eight games and another conference title, and then lost 12 of 13 games before being fired early in the 2013 season after what he described as a dispute with the university president over fundraising.When Williams accepted a job with Washington last year, his legacy as one of the sport's most significant difference-makers remained untouched. Twenty years after his breakthrough victory over Denver, Williams presented the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the New York Giants and the first African-American general manager to win the Super Bowl, Jerry Reese, the great-grandson of a sharecropper. "I will keep pushing," Reese wrote Williams in an email two days after defeating the 18-0 New England Patriots in Arizona. "I won't let you down."

Reese was speaking for a generation of NFL winners that includes the head coach of the Jets."They're all going to respect Todd," Williams said, "because he's going to handle the Geno Smith thing and every other situation like a grownup. To me, Todd was overdue to get this chance. I want him to win every week except when we play them."So on Oct. 18, the Sunday after Todd Bowles' bye week, Doug Williams will be rooting for the visiting team at MetLife Stadium. Every other Sunday, he'll live through the former safety he once recognized as a quarterback destined to become a coach.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13827479/doug-williams-discovered-coach-safety-named-todd-bowles

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Too early to declare 'In Todd We Trust' -- but Bowles has right stuff

They've been in this place before. New coach, fast start, renewed optimism and an overall sense they finally have the right leader.It happened to the New York Jets in 2009 with Rex Ryan, who had the city buzzing with a 3-0 start. It was the same feeling in 2006, when Eric Mangini inherited a four-win team and turned it into 10 wins. Remember, he was Mangenius, Bill Belichick's estranged Mini-Me.

Herm Edwards was an instant hit in 2001. In fact, he, Mangini and Ryan made the playoffs in their first seasons. People forget Al Groh started 6-1 in 2000 before the players succumbed to Groh fatigue. The greatest new coach of them all was Bill Parcells, who removed the black cloud that hung over the franchise by taking a 1-15 team and leading it to the cusp of the playoffs in 1997.Now we're on to Todd Bowles, who navigated a tough preseason and has the team at 3-1, second place in the AFC East. Once again, the excitement is building. The fan base is entranced by the new man in charge, the poker-faced coach who doesn't smile unless he's talking about Gladys Knight.But the true fans -- the ones teased by the early success of coaches past -- know that a tap of the brakes is in order. Even Bowles said, "We haven't accomplished anything."

Listen to the coach. It's a long a season, and there will be plenty of twists and turns over the next 12 weeks. So, yes, it's too early to draw conclusions about Bowles, but there's one characteristic that stands out -- a few, actually. He's an amalgam of his predecessors, and I mean that in a good way. I think he possesses the best traits of the previous Jets coaches.Bowles has Ryan's defensive acumen and aggressive mentality. He has lived up to his reputation as a blitz-minded coach, as the Jets have blitzed on a league-high 85 pass plays, according to ESPN Stats & Information. It's tough to argue with the results; the Jets are first in scoring defense and third in total defense.

He has Mangini's no-nonsense approach, instilling a sense of discipline that was missing under Ryan. Bowles isn't draconian, a la Mangini, but he subscribes to the old-school belief that law and order are necessary to achieve success.He has Edwards' ex-player aura. Like Edwards, Bowles played in the league, and that resonates among players in the locker room. He was one of them, creating a connection different from the usual coach-player relationship.He has Groh's ... oh, never mind. Funny thing is, Bowles got his first NFL coaching gig from Groh, who hired him in 2000 as the Jets' secondary coach. That's where the similarities end.

Lastly, Bowles has Parcells' ability to see the big picture. A great coach can step away from the X's and O's and take the wide view of his team and/or a particular game. The opposite would be Ryan, who was so immersed in his defense that he lost the pulse of the entire team. Bowles has a long way to go before he equals Parcells in this respect, but you see the early signs of a coach who gets it.But there's still so much more to learn about Bowles. He still hasn't faced Belichick. He still hasn't faced an elite defense. He still hasn't been in a close game, meaning his clock-management skills haven't been tested. By Nov. 12, when he will have faced every team in the division, we'll have a better idea of whether the "In Todd We Trust" label applies.

>   http://espn.go.com/blog/newyork-jets/post/_/id/54865/too-early-to-declare-in-todd-we-trust-but-bowles-has-right-stuff

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Todd Bowles Has Taken The Jets From Really Bad To Really Good

New York's 3-1 start is its best in five years.

Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan took the team to two consecutive AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010. It was a run of success the franchise had never before experienced, despite the infamous Joe Namath Super Bowl upset win of 1968 and two subsequent appearances in the conference championship in 1982 and 1998.

But four consecutive seasons of failing to make the playoffs -- including a miserable four-win season in 2014 -- led to Ryan's demise. With poor quarterback play and a consistently undisciplined team, the team's ownership and front office hired Todd Bowles, another defensive guru and a first-time head coach.A football team's record just one month into the season isn't exactly the definitive measure of its success, but at 3-1, with a stunning Week 2 Monday night road win over quarterback Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts, Bowles appears to have the Jets in prime position to finally challenge the New England Patriots in the AFC East.

In fact, it's the best start Gang Green has had since 2010 -- which just so happens to be the last time they took a trip to the conference title game.Perhaps part of Bowles' charm is his straight arrow, no-nonsense approach. In other words, he's the antithesis of Ryan. "We understand that we've only played one quarter of the season, and all we did was get off to a good start," Bowles said on Monday. "We haven't accomplished anything."

Oh, but they have.

After a strange start to training camp -- where a teammate broke starting quarterback Geno Smith's jaw -- the Jets were once again the talk of the league, and for all the wrong reasons. But Bowles calmed things down and entrusted veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick under center.Fitzpatrick's familiarity with offensive coordinator Chan Gailey from their Buffalo days has paid dividends. To be sure, this is not a quick-strike, explosive offense, nor is Fitzpatrick headed toward the Pro Bowl. What the Jets offense has become, however, is a steady blend of long, sustainable drives and a dominant running attack. Despite missing one game, running back Chris Ivory ranks third in the NFL in rushing, with a healthy 5-yard average behind a productive offensive line.All of that melds perfectly with a fantastic defense that continually forces three-and-outs and turnovers. The return of cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Darrelle Revis in the secondary has also allowed Bowles to do what perhaps nobody in this league does better: create highly confusing and productive blitz and coverage packages that even the most dominant quarterbacks tend to struggle with.

In the win over Indy, Luck endured one of the worst games of his career, totaling a measly 21 of 37 through the air to go along with three interceptions and a lost fumble. Through four games, the Jets boast the second-best total defense in pro football -- and maybe just as impressively, they have already matched last season's forced turnovers total with 13. It's one key reason why they've also outscored opponents by 40 points, the sixth-best clip in the league."I think we're growing together," Bowles added after the win in London over Miami. "I think everybody is starting to realize that we can become a good team, but we’ve got to cut out a lot of mistakes ahead and we have a long haul to go. It’s not going to happen overnight. But the guys are getting a lot more confident."Confidence never seemed to be lacking during Ryan's regime, but that didn't yield results in his last four seasons with the Jets. For a 51-year-old rookie head coach, Bowles is tamer and less bombastic than Ryan was on his quietest days, and maybe that's precisely what this team needed.

There's more good news ahead, too. An early bye week allows Bowles to make crucial adjustments, and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson's return from suspension will bolster an already dominant front seven. Former Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams teamed with Bowles on Washington's 1987 Super Bowl-winning team. He, too, believes that Bowles is an ideal fit for the Jets, given his football acumen and even-keeled approach to the game."Todd never gets ruffled by anything," Williams told ESPN.com. "When he gets mad, he doesn't get carried away. The same guy you see today is the guy you're going to see tomorrow, and he's not going to worry about being a personality. Nobody's going to carry himself better than Todd, and he's never given anybody any ammunition to tell you a story about him."

Such an attitude hardly guarantees results in this league. But then again, it's a welcome sight for an organization that was in constant peril and turmoil for way too long. 

>     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/todd-bowles-jets-turnaround_561687e1e4b0dbb8000d569d?ref=yfp

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Rich Cimini ESPN Staff Writer 

In his post-game speech to the team, Jets coach Todd Bowles pointed out they had only 10 players on the field when the punt was blocked by the Redskins in the end zone. A film review confirms the Jets had only a seven-man box. Based on the lineup they used earlier in the game, the missing player was Zac Stacy.

>     http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/nyj/newyork-jets

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-- The most compelling figure in the recent Border War rivalry is 3,500 miles away from home, preparing his team for a game in London. Yep, old Rex Ryan sure was a lot of fun when it came to talking about the New England Patriots. He was part football coach, part carnival barker, always calling out Bill Belichick and raising the stakes to Armageddon levels. Ryan spent six years hammering the same theme: I'm not here to kiss Belichick's rings.

The headline-loving folks in the audience, including yours truly, will miss Ryan's sound bites this week.

The New York Jets will not.

Ryan's departure to Buffalo will hurt from an entertainment standpoint -- even his players enjoyed the bluster -- but the Jets will be better off with the even-keeled Todd Bowles, who refuses to buy into the hype surrounding this Sunday's first-place showdown. He won't bury a football (see: Ryan, 2010) or punch a wall (2014) if he loses, and he won't plan a parade route if they happen to upset the defending Super Bowl champions.

Instead of asking his players to make a huge emotional investment in the game, as Ryan often did, Bowles continues to invoke the boxing analogy he unveiled at the start of the season. Each game is one round, and the season is a 16-round fight. Sunday is Round 6."Winning this game is not going to make us, losing this game is not going to break us," Bowles said Monday in a monotone that sounded a lot like Belichick.Ryan's rah-rah approach can work in small doses. After all, the Jets rode that emotion to a few pulsating wins over the Patriots in the coach's early years. No one will ever forget that epic playoff game in January 2011, the franchise's biggest win since Super Bowl III. That was vintage Ryan who provided us with a week of fire and brimstone. The following week, he took a subdued, business-like approach for the AFC Championship Game and, not surprisingly, the Jets came out flat, falling to a Pittsburgh Steelers team they should've beaten.

Manufactured emotion is like unrefrigerated milk. It doesn't stay good for long.

"Good teams don't ride the emotional roller coaster," guard Willie Colon said. "They're strong, steady and they're staying straight ahead. They're staying in their lane. They don't look left or right and see what other teams are going through."We're trying to be that team," he continued. "We don't have to look at what Buffalo is going through and what New England is going through. We just have to worry about the New York Jets, be competitive, fight and play at a high level. If we're able to do that, we're going to be fine. We're not trying to catch up with anybody. We're not trying to make any statements. We just want to win."

It's a delicate balance, of course. You don't want a team of robots, but you also don't want a team of frothing, over-heated wackos. The latter leads to inconsistency, wild swings of emotion and performance issues. Classic example: In 2013, the Jets upset the Patriots in overtime only to show up comatose the following week in Cincinnati, suffering an embarrassing 49-9 loss to the Bengals.

Such was life on the Rex Coaster. It was fun, but dangerous.

Let's not be naive: The players know this week is different, that it's not just one of 16. If the Jets (4-1) beat the Patriots (5-0), they'd move into a first-place tie -- a mere 10 months after one of the worst seasons in franchise history. So, yeah, it's important. Sheldon Richardson said that Jets players will be "licking our chops," a point of view that conflicts with Bowles' mantra, but there probably won't be too many of those quotes emerging this week from the locker room. They will manage their emotions better than in the past because the man in charge -- Bowles -- knows how to manage himself.

It might be a dull week for headline writers. At least they have the Mets.

>    http://espn.go.com/blog/newyork-jets/post/_/id/55172/well-miss-the-quotes-but-jets-are-better-off-without-rex-ryans-bluster

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Through six weeks of this NFL season, the Jets are 4-1, and they either lead the league or sit near the top in most defensive statistics

They're first in yards, first in points, second in rushing yards, second in passing yards, third in third-down conversions, first in red-zone efficiency, first in first downs allowed, third in takeaways, and second in defensive DVOA

That's a pretty impressive list

But which defensive stats impress Jets coach Todd Bowles the most? The former defensive coordinator addressed that question Wednesday. "We don't worry about rankings," Bowles said. "We're just trying to score, or keep the opponent to one less point, so our offense can win the ball game. Rankings aren't important. We're just trying to win games." 

But Bowles said he considers these defensive stats to be the most significant: "For us, it's about third downs, turnovers, red zone, and stopping the run. All the other stuff, we don't worry about." The Jets are third, third, first, and second in those categories. So Bowles has to be pretty pleased about that. 

Why doesn't he worry too much about passing yards      ? 

"Well, if you're winning a game 34-6 in the second half, and you know the other team is going to come out throwing, they could rack up a lot of yardage," Bowles said. "And you're going to be more safe [by playing off coverage] defensively than anything else [in this situation]. So they could end up with 350 yards, but if you've got three or four interceptions, you did a good job. So it's all relative."  

>      http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2015/10/which_defensive_statistics_does_jets_todd_bowles_v.html#incart_river

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