Football is a Slowik family affair, but this week, as the Jets prepare to face the Dolphins, safeties coach Ryan Slowik won't be speaking to his brother Bobby, Miami's offensive coordinator, much.
"We'll occasionally actually talk on the phone once every few weeks; we'll text every week but as far as this week, the last communication we had via text had to be last Saturday," Ryan said. "It stopped after that, but we'll pick it back up after the game."
This isn't the first time Ryan and Bobby have faced each other, but it is the first time since they were both on the same coaching staff. Ryan was Miami's defensive backs and passing game specialist last season, and Bobby was the senior passing game coordinator before being promoted to OC this season.
"One of the main reasons I came here last year was because Ryan was here and had been here, and that was a really cool experience and opportunity for me," Bobby said. "Now to be enemies again for a few weeks through the course of the season, it's been fun."
HC Aaron Glenn joked that it's the "Slow-Bowl," but Ryan hasn't made a big deal about it to the team.
"He is trying to downplay it," DC Brian Duker, who also coached with the Slowik brothers last season in Miami, said. "We are trying to poke and prod him into it for fun."
Ryan is the older brother by 7 years, and coaching was always the destination for him and Bobby. Their father, Bob Slowik, had a lengthy NFL coaching career and was a defensive coordinator for five of the six different teams he worked with. Now, after a brief retirement, he's back coaching for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League.
See photos of the Jets on the practice field ahead of their Week 7 matchup with the Dolphins.
"We both played football since we could remember, we always wanted to be around football and coaching was the next best thing if you can't play," Ryan said. "It was always something that we believed we would get into."
Bobby deviated from his brother and father to the offensive side of the ball. He played wide receiver in college, and Ryan said offense was his brother's "first love." But when he first started coaching in the NFL, Bobby worked under Mike Shanahan as a defensive assistant because "one of the big things they do with the younger coaches is try to flip the sides of the ball for you so you get experience learning how to attack each side."
Ryan had his NFL coaching start with the Denver Broncos in 2005 as a defensive assistant and prior to joining the Jets' staff, he spent four seasons with the Dolphins - two of which were with Duker.
"[He's] very reliable, hardworking, does a great job with his players, invests in them tremendously," Duker said. "Obviously, have a history with him and was excited for the ability to bring him here as well."
According to Glenn, Slowik has a flair with his demonstrations.
"He has the mentality that you want as a coach, you can tell that they guys gravitate to him when he's coaching," Glenn said.
Minkah Fitzpatrick, who started his career in Miami and was with the Dolphins again last season before signing with the Jets in free agency, said Slowik always provides a lot of insight and experience.
"He brings a lot of energy," Fitzpatrick said. "He starts off pretty mellow but then slowly builds up."
Dolphins QB Malik Willis had no idea Bobby would be facing his brother until he figured it out before a practice during Miami's bye week.
"I was like 'Oh that's crazy. Y'all going at it?''' Willis said. "And he's like 'No, we're chilling, but we can't talk this week.'"
No other Slowik will be in attendance for this edition of the sibling matchup since both of their kids have youth sports tournaments over the weekend.
"It'll just be him and me, that's it," Ryan said.
"There'll be a few jabs. Maybe I'll see him at midfield and give him a sucker punch or something, you know what I mean," Bobby said with a laugh.
Fitzpatrick said the "Slow Bowl" was in one of the first presentations this week, and he thought it was "really cool that there's a little bragging rights within the home that's up for grabs," but that isn't on Ryan's mind.
"I got a laugh out of it," Ryan said. "It's not the first time I've heard that either. But obviously, it's not about me and him, it's about the Jets versus Dolphins."
