New Jet coach has a ball in happy debut

D’Brickashaw Ferguson was in the middle of the locker room with a football in his hands as his teammates were gathered around rookie head coach Todd Bowles. Just before the players got ready to break it down and head to their lockers following the season-opening 31-10 victory over a really bad Browns team, Ferguson, the most senior Jet along with Nick Mangold, handed the ball to Bowles.

“Here’s the game ball for your first win. Congratulations,” Ferguson said. “Hopefully it will be the first of many.”

Bowles is as low key as Rex Ryan is loud, but he got caught up in the moment as the players celebrated around him. “He was very excited,” Darrelle Revis said. “We’re looking for more wins for him.”

It’s not as if Bowles was then hoisted on the shoulders of the offensive linemen and taken back into the stadium for a victory lap. But for a team that won only four games last year and had lost its way with Ryan, it was a nice way to start.

“It feels good,” Bowles said. “You get the butterflies and the first one out of the way.”

Really, if the Jets couldn’t beat the Browns before a charged up home crowd in the first game of the season in the much anticipated return of Fireman Ed, exactly who were they going to beat?

When a team changes head coaches, it usually goes for the opposite personality. Ryan was a showman. He was entertaining but he also created a circus atmosphere. Bowles is all business. Can you imagine the hysteria if Geno Smith getting punched out by a teammate came under Ryan’s watch? All hell would have broken loose. Bowles dealt with it and moved on. Maybe in the back of his mind, he knew the Jets would be better off with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback.

Bowles’ sideline demeanor Sunday came as advertised. No nonsense. He placed on his headset, communicated with his coaches and never let his emotions take over. But since his first mentor when he began his coaching career was Bill Parcells, he has some risk-taker in him.

He went for it on a fourth-and-1 from the Browns 45 one minute into the second quarter, and although the Jets failed to pick up the first down — bad play call by Chan Gailey, by the way, giving the ball to fullback Tommy Bohanan when Chris Ivory was unstoppable — it showed he is not afraid.

“I like the fact that he made a bold decision,” GM Mike Maccagnan said. “He will be a very good head coach. He’s a very disciplined guy, he’s a tough-minded guy and when you deal with adversity, he is very steady.” Starting in 1997, the Jets head coaches have been Parcells, Al Groh, Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini, Ryan and now Bowles. The first five all had winning records in their first season. Edwards, Mangini and Ryan made the playoffs in their first year. All but Edwards won their first game.

Bowles played for Joe Gibbs in Washington and coached for Parcells with the Jets and Cowboys. That’s an impressive resume. He was 2-1 as the interim head coach of the Dolphins at the end of the 2011 season. He knew there would be a new coach after the season. This is his team. He has a lot more on the line.

He slept in Sunday morning. “I drove to the game peacefully,” he said. “It was nice and quiet. I was trying to keep everything under wraps and for the most part, I did that. The coaches kept me loose.” His message to the defense: Be aggressive and come up with turnovers. The Jets came up with five against the Browns. They had a total of three in their first nine games last season.

The defense picked off Johnny Manziel once, came up with two Manziel fumbles and forced a fumble by Josh McCown on a huge goal line hit by Calvin Pryor with the ball rolling out of the end zone for a touchback.

Brandon Marshall also forced a fumble by free safety Tashaun Gipson in the second quarter after Fitzpatrick threw his only interception. Bowles said Marshall made the biggest play of the game. Marshall picked up the ball and ran eight yards to the Cleveland 9. After a penalty brought back Fitzpatrick’s touchdown pass to Ivory on first down, Ivory ran it in from 10 yards to get the Jets to 7-7. After the Browns took a 10-7 lead, the Jets scored the final 24 points.

At the final team meeting Saturday night, Bowles showed Jets highlights from the last few preseasons and told his players they “have to come out and answer the bell,” guard Willie Colon said.

The players loved playing for Ryan. It wasn’t until he was gone that stories about a lack of discipline emerged from the locker room. Bowles has the respect of his players. He played a long time in the NFL. He started at corner in Super Bowl XXII for Washington. He was a long-time assistant in the league.

“Todd is not about wasted energy,” Colon said. “He’s not about wasted words. What he says is what he means. What he demands is what he expects of us. He’s a businessman. He gives us the orders and we go out and get it done. It’s very black and white. It’s not about the rah-rah stuff. He knows football. He’s played the game. He knows what it looks like.”

The Jets are 1-0 and Bowles went home with a game ball. That’s a nice look.