RICHMOND, Va. -- Little-known fact about Todd Bowles: He once appeared in a post-Super Bowl Disney World commercial.

"That's my claim to fame," the New York Jets' coach told ESPN with a laugh.

It wasn't his commercial, of course. The person who wished upon a star was Washington Redskins teammate Doug Williams, who was named the MVP in Super Bowl XXII after the 1987 season. The commercial included a clip of Williams walking off the field at the end of his historic performance, and one of the players congratulating him was a 24-year-old Bowles, who had an Afro and a thick mustache.

They had met only a year earlier. Who could've guessed they'd be forever friends?

Bowles got his start in the coaching profession because of Williams, who took a chance on him in 1997 even though he had no coaching experience. Williams was named the head coach at Morehouse College in Atlanta, and he hired Bowles as his defensive coordinator. They're reunited this week in Richmond, Virginia, where the Jets and Redskins are participating in joint practices.

"He's responsible for this monstrosity of me coaching," Bowles said, smiling.

Williams, the Redskins' senior vice president of player personnel, is one of Bowles' coaching mentors, along with Joe Gibbs, Emmitt Thomas, Bruce Arians and Bill Parcells. In 1996, Williams was an East Coast scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Bowles was an East Coast scout for the Green Bay Packers. They ran into each other all the time on the road, continuing the bond that was forged as Redskins teammates.

As players, they lived two miles apart in the D.C. area. At Thanksgiving, Williams' mother cooked sweet-potato pies for Bowles. When Williams jumped into coaching, he wanted Bowles to join him and he refused to take no for an answer.

"I said, 'Doug, you've got to be kidding me; I never coached before. I'm sure you've got a million people to choose from. You're a Super Bowl champion. You're legendary,'" Bowles said. "He said, 'No, I watched you every day and you're the guy I want.'"

Bowles said no three times. Finally, he came around, deciding he wanted to alter his career path. A scout's life is grueling, so he decided to try something else.

"I told him, 'Well, let's see if I like this coaching thing,'" said Bowles, who spent one season as the Morehouse defensive coordinator before following Williams to Grambling for the same job.

"As a scout, you get tired," Bowles continued. "I was in Pennsylvania, driving through, trying to find players at California (Pa.), Indiana (Pa.), Susquehanna, West Chester. You just come up empty and the road kind of wears you down. I always liked the X's-and-O's part of the game. To go in as a coordinator is rare. Usually, you start as a position coach or an intern."

After two years at Grambling, Bowles was hired by Parcells as the Jets' secondary coach, starting his circuitous journey in the NFL. He returned to the Jets in 2015 as the head coach. He owes a lot to Williams, and learned a lot from him, too.

"He taught me how to handle people, how to handle crisis situations," Bowles said. "He's been a great resource for me."

They talk frequently, continuing a friendship that began in 1986, when Bowles arrived in Washington as an undrafted free agent out of Temple. Williams was new to the Redskins, too, having returned to the NFL after a stint in the USFL. By January 1988, they were Super Bowl champions. Williams passed for 340 yards and four touchdowns in their 42-10 win over the Denver Broncos. The game had social implications, as Williams became the first black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl.

"He was great," said Bowles, the starting free safety. "It was unbelievable to see it live."

Bowles didn't get a trip to Disney World, but at least he made the commercial.