Buffalo Bills hire Chan Gailey as head coach

“Chan Gailey? Is that serious?”

“Are the Bills intentionally alienating their fans so that nobody cares when they move in a few years?”

I’m not going to respond….

… Just got THE text lol. Well im going to try and be positive about this and wait until we get to the season to start judging. Free agency and the draft should be interesting.

Here’s my response – Nooooooo button

because i’m not happy. I don’t want to be happy about this because I don’t see a huge change coming to the organization. Maybe i’ll be pleasantly surprised, but i’m fully expecting to spend gameday half asleep in the big chair.

is he west coast or a vertical passing game will he stick with the cover two most likely or is he more of a 34 front guy

I’ve read he ran a shotgun offense, and also a run-heavy offense…so can tailor the offense to what players he has.

He’s coached in cold weather…Pitt and Denver…

He’s coached in 4 Super Bowls (I’ll ignore his record though)…

Thurman said he’ll get in your face in practice and is very detailed. Good to hear when I also read he’s stoic on the sidelines with a blank stare.

He’s got kind of a cool name…

He has a beer gut….

C’mon…I’m trying here….

I won’t believe it until i hear it from Joe Logan.

Also does anyone think we will make a big splash in FA or via trade this offseason to try and get the fans interested again… i know NIX said that he isnt a big nae kinda GM but they need to create some fan interest after these two hirings and Brandon is a crafty marketer

partially because it does seem that he has the attributes that Nix (and most of us fans) were looking (offensive minded, HC experience at a high level)for but I was kind of hoping for a more firey leader on the sidelines, you know someone who brings a warrior mentality to the job. I guess we will wait and see how this all plays out but, as was posted here many times yesterday, he better have some very good coordinators coming with him to get this thing on track. And at least he wanted to come to Buffalo (a point that should not be understated).

I do have a question though………. since he will be getting paid considerably less (he damn well better be)than the $10 mil we were willing to throw at Cower and Shanahan….does that mean more money for QUALITY free agent signings? One can dream can’t one?

Playoffs here we come. I love Chan Gailey.

If you don’t think they are I suggest going outside all day today and keeping away from the internet. Maybe throw your phone in Lake Erie if you have a bunch of out of town friends.

Mort just replied to my tweet asking if Frazier turned down Bills:

mortreport
  
@MattKabel He definitely did not turn down Bills. He wasn’t offered. And league rules wouldn’t allow that to happen but they wanted HC experience

He has coached both offensive and defnse as coordinator and special teams so he is experienced form both sides of the ball …everyone gets better with experience so i expect better than what he did in Dallas and GT… i hope he assembles a great staff and with the amount of time he spent in the NFL i am sure there are some people willing to come along with him to Buffalo

“where he worked for a year under Herman Edwards.”

Hope he doesn’t have too much in common with Herm “Play to win the game” Edwards.

The thing that sucks right now is that he, as far as fans are concerned, isn’t going to be given fair shake. The Bills are going to have a hard time selling tickets this year – but we have to build a team from the ground up.

Let Nix and Chan do their thing. We’ve suffered through a bunch of craptastic teams anyways – can this really be much worse (if yes – explain why)?

Trent Edwards is back @ QB for this team?

Poor decision making on the field by the coaching staff. Poor talent evaluation of the players in FA and moving up in the draft and selecting the McCargo’s and Loosman’s. Not having good teachers on the sidelines. Not recoginizing how a player can help the team when the player has shown ineffectivness at the position drafted at. Offensively, we have struggled, defensively we have been average mainly due to the poorness of the offense. We are getting the exact overhaul that we asked for. Minus the coordinators which are soon to come. Good Teachers, Good drafts and a few helpful FA’s and we should be looking Okay to begin with.

you’ve got to be S#$%@in me! Chan Gailey! Chan Gailey!!!!!! what kinda drugs is Ralf on anyways!!!!!! is this an attempt to make the team sooooo bad that the fans will be happy to see them go to L.A.!!!!!!! for the first time in my life im rethinking the thought of being a hard core Bills fan, im hurt by this move if it goes down!

So I guess Gailey acted as his own offensive coordinator in Dallas.
How about some other OC names?

Patrick Nix – was Gailey’s OC, RB, and WR coach at Georgia Tech
Buddy Geis – worked with Gailey in Dallas and GT as WR coach, former CFL OC, former WR coach in Green Bay, 55 y/o
Alex Van Pelt – He’s here….

I am finished, period. I am done being set up and then let down by this team.

I will not allow it to happen again.

At least Leslie Frazier would have come in here and worked his tail off. I had gradually gotten truly excited about him coming in here as HC.

And now this?

I’m not against him either, anxious to see his staff, and what his OC and DC are will go a LONG way for me.

what has gailey done worth any thing! yea he took the cowboys to the playoffs! woo so did wade! he was @ GA Tech what did tey do??? not to much! the fact is no one else wanted it!!!!

the job that is! HC of the Buffalo BIlls

we had to settle for a HC, no one with real talent wanted the job!!

any word on Gailey’s sideline demeanor? Just curious as to what his presence on the field is. I also might watch some Dalls Cowboys 98-99 tape if I can find it.. just what kind of team did he take to the playoffs? A team pooled with over the hill talent and an owner just learning how to be a GM (and never actually learning anything)?

any word on Gailey’s sideline demeanor? Just curious as to what his presence on the field is.

Visualize a Dick Jauron, but with an offensive background.

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2010/1/19/1258856/why-chan-gailey-would-be-a-good#storyjump

I’ve only been commenting for a few days now, so hello everyone.

with almost every article citing Cowher’s connection to the Bills hiring Gailey it makes it seem as though Bill Cowher hired Gailey for the Bills. which makes you wonder, what the hell is the front office doing, then?

in any event, i think this will be a playoff team in 2 years. he is a good coach, just not someone i expected.

I must admit, yesterday when I read the rumors I was P****d! I have now had time to think. These are the things I’ve come up with:
1. We have two choices remain fans and support the new HC or find a new team to root for, either way s**t or get off the pot.
2. Comparing college coaching to pro coaching is apples and oranges (i.e. Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, etc.)
3. We are rebuilding, I hope… This said, next year should be a lost cause. I sincerely hope Buddy and Chan get some decent coordinators, some hot young talent and some solid positional coaches. Forget free agency, draft, draft, draft! That’s what Buddy did in SD!
4. Chan does have a spine. He was relieved because he wouldn’t change his schemes when ordered to by a first year head coach. He may not be showy but he does seem to have integrity.

Let’s all take a nice ling drink of scotch, relax, and see what he has in store.

I think he looks like bob newhart.

If I were the Bills I would start trading away picks so we have a bunch in rounds 2 and 3 for 2011. Hire Harbaugh after he dominates Pac -10. Then sign top 3 free agents at whatever position.

And now I’ll turn off Madden.

I know that this guys is known as a “mediocre” coach. Or more precisely, a guy that should be a trust OC, but who shouldn’t be a HC.

Personally I don’t really care what his record with past teams is, just as long as he can improve the record of this team. We should know how this team holds up about 4 games into the season, so I’ll hold my judgement until then.

After all, Pats fans must have been saying the same thing after seeing what Belichick did in Cleveland. Still, I don’t think we have the next Belichick here.

Either way, the die is cast. All we can do now is wait and see how it plays out. A lot of people have said they like what Nix has done in the past… now is the time to put up or shut up with your faith in the guy.

But The Chan has coached a team to the playoffs in the two years he was allowed to coach in the NFL.

we are officially the Raiders of the East.

you all how disappointed and angry I am right now. I’ve been down this road before. I’ve seen this story play out. Ralph hires a GM, whom he can control, he hires a new HC who he can control. He honestly believes you need to be “lucky” to be good. How bout working extremely hard as an entire organization towards one goal, with one mission, and a standard of performance that echoes the beliefs of all the successful organizations in America? How bout, stop being Al Davis? It’s really embarassing. I am ashamed to be a Bills fan. I am ashamed that my organization is so consistent on refusing to change. That there is no innovative minds. That Modrak, Guy, Nix, Brandon, etc are all yellow-belly cowards who refuse to shout from the mountain tops the need to change. What a colossal failure this organization is.

Do I have anything against Chan Gailey? NO. But he is not a leader, he is not a CEO type, he is an OC at best. The reason he has bounced around his whole career is because he is average, but not good enough. Why not hire Frazier and have Gailey be OC? Why not hire Bilick and have Gailey as OC? It’s insane to have Gailey be the actual HC. He’ll just be a peon for Ralph.

…Just saying.

this all your fault……….

okay so now that we got a head coach, who does he hire as coordinators?

I think for me, I honestly do not trust this front office to make the correct decision. And hiring a coach who has already won the Super Bowl takes so much less trust on my part, you know? Even Leslie Frazier had league-wide recommendations, and recent interviews to back him up. I’m almost feeling like I need external validation right now, and I’m not going to get that with Gailey.

If the Steelers had made this move, or the Colts had made this move, I would probably be thinking: “What do they know that we don’t?” And that my friends, is the obstacle that this front office has to climb. They don’t have the faith of the fans. I hope for their sake and ours that a majority of the fans on this site are dead wrong.

If we get this guy the players he needs, he can succeed. He’s not going to pull off any miracles, and he’s not a longterm answer, but he’ll succeed if we put him in position to.

Today, just like 2 days ago, it’s still all about the players that Nix brings in.

I was adamantly Bill Cowher or bust. I have also been clear in a previous Chan thread that I think he is Dick Jauron part 2. HOWEVER. I voted yes in the poll, that I’m ok with the hire because over the last few days, as it became obvious that Cowher had moved on (though I still believe they should have thrown 13 mil at him to make him come, for symbolic and morale reasons as much as coaching superiority) I was really worried we were going to land a coordinator who would be in over his head. I’m dead serious when I say that I prefer Chan Gailey to Leslie Frazier, Russ Grimm, and maybe even Jason Garrett. First, Chan has done the whole coaching thing – as a coordinator – a lot longer than all of those guys, maybe even as long as the three of them combined. He has coached as a head guy successfully in this league before – taking the Cowboys to two consecutive playoff births in two seasons. That should mean a lot for a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs in a decade. The Cowboys are the same team that made Bill Parcells want to leave town. Its not like its easy to be a coach there. So I’ll take Chan on his record in Dallas more than the fact he only made it two years. Gailey also has experience in college, so he knows how to work with youngsters, something valuable to a team rebuilding through the draft, as Nix says we will. Finally, he has been a successful offensive coordinator almost everywhere hes been. Hes also been with the Broncos, Cowboys, Chiefs, Dolphins. That means he probably has a lot of ties in this league to management types, other coaches, and players. That should help in free agency and trades. We saw how much Ralph Wilson’s bad rep in the league and poor ties hurt our chances to get people to interview. Chan has a good rep, Bill Cowher was certain to make him his OC if he was hired here anyway. The Cowboys were a losing record when he arrived and a 10-6 one year later. The Bills need to return to respectability fast if we want to become an attractive destination again.

In the end, am I happy. No I’m not. Am I mad. No I’m not. I’m going to go into this season as a passionless observer because I won’t let the Bills get my hopes up again. Only Cowher could have saved me from the fan numbness I feel. But at least Chan Gailey has won in this league. We need winners around here these days, you know? We didn’t need some no experience, coordinator who wouldn’t know what to do when he realizes his budget in Buffalo is tiny and no free agents want to come here. We need a savy, vet who has won before. Not getting Cowher hurts me a lot. I thought the team would finally step up and go the extra mile for me like I always have for them. They didn’t. But Gailey isn’t the worst candidate by a mile.

Now, just to mess with you all a bit. Chan Gailey is considered a guy who can do a lot with QBs. Anyone think we could be trading up a few spots to grab Jimmy Clausen?

All i have to say is that he better have some dang good coordinators! I’m kind of lost for words why we didn’t even interview Brian Billick…or why we didn’t wait until we could interview all the coaches we wanted. I’ll wait and see. However, if we don’t do well within two years and at least look respectable I’ll be upset. The only good thing I have to say about Chang is that he got mediocre production out of a garbage KC team in 08. You can’t depend on his stats from Dallas because look who his players were…Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin. I would say his team underperformed. He is definitely more of an offensive coordinator. Man I don’t know what these guys upstairs for the Bills are thinking!

I want to see who the coordinators are.

Hoping for Jim Bates to coach the defense.

Gailey already has his coaching staff lined up. See here.

I thought he had more hair.