Damn you Chan Gailey!

[DarthICE]

Thanks 22. Nice to hear from you. Gailey will be a good hire for us

[John from Riverside]

'Boys already had Tuinei at LT when they drafted Aikman, no? Colts already had Tarik Glenn when they drafted Manning. Bills had just drafted Wolford when Kelly finally got here.

 

Current Bills have ... DBell? Meredith? Gotta do better than that, or your first-round QB ends up looking like David Carr.

 

As always, JMO...

 

I will get excited about this team if I see a real effort to get guys to protect the QB.....

 

We need OT's.....when we have to pull Levitre from LG to LT even though his wingspan is too short to play the spot then we know we have issues.....

 

Get some OT's in here

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Five words for you:

 

Could. Have. Been. Marty. Schottenheimer.

[Fixxxer]

Great post icblanco22. Thanks for your insight and inside knowledge of Gailey.

 

I was going to point out that he may not have developed QBs but he got the best of them in terms of productivity.

[Mark Long Beach]

Thanks for the post 22. It's very much appreciated. We often don't get enough of a balanced perception here. There's plenty of chicken littles running around here. Somewhat understandable since they feel burned by the team so often.

 

There was nobody that could have been selected that everyone would have been happy with. Probably the closest would have been Cohwer...

 

I think we've got a decent chance with this guy. Again, thanks for the insight about Gailey.

[Astrobot]

Agreed. Jets are in the AFC CG not because of their "Sanchise," but because they fixed the line before going after the QB. Doesn't matter who's under center if he's got practice-squad tackles blocking for him.

 

Agree, Lori. This has to be a draft like the Jets' 2006 draft. They took D-Brick, then Mangold, and then and only then did they look at QB.

 

Some other quotes of/about Gailey I like:

 

--"Chan is an excellent teacher. Wherever he's coached, he has designed dynamic offenses to take full advantage of his players' skills." --Herm Edwards

 

--"committed a league-low 15 turnovers"

 

--"In 14 seasons in the NFL, he has been on the staff of 11 playoff teams and coached in the Super Bowl four times"

[Nervous Guy]

Hi everyone, lifelong Cowboys fan here who requested to join your forum today because of the Gailey hiring. I see that a lot of Bills fans are feeling a spectrum of emotions ranging from frustrated to disgusted over this move, and believe me, I would say that about 60% of Cowboys fans weren't thrilled with Gailey's tenure in Dallas from what I've read on our own message boards over the years.

 

That being said, I was always in that 40% that thought he was great for Dallas. In fact, I was happy to see Jerry Jones own up to the mistake he made when he fired Chan, even if he just finally came out with his admission in the last year.

 

You guys have gotten a solid coach who I am convinced will be much better in his 2nd NFL HC stint, and I'm saying that while thinking he did just fine in his 1st one as well. One thing Gailey is is a very rational guy who tries to learn from past mistakes. You guys heard it for yourself in today's PC when he went right back to the January '99 Wild Card game the Cowboys lost to the Cardinals and stated that in retrospect, he may have let the team get overconfident. He seemed to have that answer and memory right at the forefront of his mind, as if he actively gives his past shortcomings the proper amount of attention in order to avoid repeating them.

 

Gailey rescued a Dallas team that had fallen under significant disorganization under Barry Switzer and really turned them around. He instituted post-practice penalty laps for any pre-snap penalties that occurred in practice, got Nate Newton to drop close to 100 pounds when had ballooned up close to 400 during the offseason leading into the '98 campaign, and succeeded in getting a team that had gotten very fat and happy so to speak, to refocus and make the playoffs.

 

Skeptics always point to the fact that he inherited a team with all of these future HOFers, but that is misleading on a few fronts. To begin with, he had a very difficult proposition as a rookie HC in inheriting that type of team, because of the sense of entitlement from the veterans and the "I have 3 Super Bowl rings, why are you coming in here to change the offense we won those championships with" type of attitude he had to endure. During Chan's 2 years, all 3 future HOFers also suffered key injuries that caused them to miss stretches of games and in Michael Irvin's case, it was 12+games in '99, an injury he never returned from. Emmit Smith was also said to be on his last legs after the '97 season, and he had the last 2 great seasons of his stellar career under Chan (1,332 yards in '98 and 1,397 in '99 in 13 1/2 games).

 

One thing that is often forgotten is that Gailey had the '99 Cowboys headed to 4-0 when Michael Irvin suffered his injury in Veteran's Stadium. He also suffered subsequent other injuries at the WR position that year, until it got to the point that he had a 5th string rookie starting in the Wild Card game that year against the Vikings. Aikman also missed time that season (as he had during Gailey's first year), and Emmit Smith even missed 2 1/2 games with a broken hand. The 8-8 record and Wild Card berth the Cowboys managed that season was actually an accomplishment considering all of the changing personnel on offense he had to deal with.

 

Gailey is an adaptable and very creative offensive mind. He may have tried to force things a bit in Dallas as a rookie HC-- he had Michael Irvin lining up in the backfield and even out of the game on some 3rd downs back in '98 for example--, but I think he long ago learned from those mistakes. To be fair, he also had some great offensive wrinkles that he introduced, such as running the option with Emmit Smith and Ernie Mills and direct snaps to halfback Chris Warren waaaay before the Wildcat was in vogue, that opposing defenses never saw coming that year.

 

Look for Chan to really do some creative things with guys like Fred Jackson, who is very quick in space and can do multiple things well. If Marshawn Lynch does end up being retained by the team, look for Gailey to do good things with him as well. There's no denying Gailey has a solid track record with running backs, be they mediocre ones or Hall of Famers. For example, Emmit Smith has credited Gailey in the past with having resurrected his career, and Lamar Smith, never anything to write home about before or after his time with Chan in Miami, had his most productive years when Gailey worked with him.

 

Finally, I've seen a few challenging the idea that Gailey has developed QBs. I agree to an extent, I think the better description for what he's done is maximize a few of these guys' abilities when he's had them. I.E. Fiedler, Stewart, and Tomczak had their best seasons under Chan's tutelage.

 

Sorry for the long post and for stepping into the Bills discussion here, but I thought I would add my .02. I am looking forward to watching your team with unprecedented interest this season and to rooting for Chan and your team to do well.

 

A must read for the haters. Thanks!

[DarthICE]

^^

This

[Jay4481]

I want to hate you. I want to throw you under the bus and call this a cheap ass hire, etc. I just can't. There is just something about this guy I really like. I love the fact he can develop QB's so lets hope Nix goes out and gets one. I love the fact he will call the offense. There is no more camp Marv/ Jauron. It's time to bring some damn toughness to this team and I have a feeling if you don't bring your A game you will be shown the door with this guy.

 

As for as Buddy Nix is concerned, I loved how he backhanded the press and said it was funny watching all the BS reports out there. I love how he basically said he doesn't give a **** what the media has to say.

 

God Damn it...as much as I don't want to, I am pumped to see what Gailey can do. here is to hoping the Draft is a great one that produces that QB we have greatly been missing.

 

I for one am going to give the Nix/ Gailey regime a clean slate and fair shot.

 

 

I am with you bro, one of your best posts!

[DarthICE]

I just watched the PC again. If you have the chance go back and watch again. I am telling you this guy is gonna turn this thing around IF Nix gets him a QB and the rest of the talent around him.

 

Also did you see the reaction to his having ran a 4-3. Sure seems to me he wants a 3-4, man I hope so!