Buffalo Bills HC Chan Gailey Approval Poll: January 2012

because I love the way he handled the Johnson situation, this week.

Offense has improved significantly under Chan. He’s gotten to see what CJ can do. Our QB is good when we go up-tempo and have receivers. The offensive line was amazing. There were mistakes and issues adjusting but overall, the offense was good.

Defense is another issue. Players say the scheme is good but they aren’t executing. Early in the season we got some turnovers but overall it doesn’t look like any of the issues over the past few years have been addressed. The defense needs to be addressed and unfortunately, I think that means our DC needs to go.

I don’t approve of some of the things that he does (like not using RBs enough when they’re working or putting in the wrong center for an entire dang game because that’s who was used in training camp), but I do approve of how he grows from these mistakes. He holds himself accountable and tries to make changes. I think that some things that he does is too little, too late like making a hard line rule for the finale game and then putting himself in a tight position in order to follow through. I get that he has to make decisions in regard to discipline, but this seemed like the silliest possible time to do it. Why not start with sitting out a half for a penalty that hurt the team during the losing streak when it could have helped our playoff chances? It would have made a bigger impact then and I think less people would be upset about it. I think he’s still learning, but I like that he’s improving, so I approve.

After 2 years under Gailey I feel better about our O-line and I think he deserves half the credit for that. If Bell was healthy and signed, I would feel great about it. And oh yeah, Would (wood) too. (sigh)
Everything else about the Bills seems the same, lousy. Acquiring talent has a lot to do with developing it….. I am unsure where the line should be so I voted unsure.

I wish we could demote him to offensive coordinator and let him concentrate on just that.

The man is in over his head and regularly out smarts himself leading to seemingly dumb decisions.

• The offense is still horrific at clock management.
• Very slow to make adjustments when teams were sitting on this short passing game during the 7 game slump.
• More concerned with personal ‘packages’ than getting his best players on the field.
• Failed to improve the defense, in fact, it’s probably worse.
• No Plan ‘B’ if a career backup QB suddenly reverted to form.
• No effort or plan to develop a young QB.

primed for really good things in year 3. (will need to beat the injury bug & have a nice draft)

I disapprove, 10 wins in 2 years is not acceptable. I like a lot of what he is doing on offense but he is also responsible for the defense and the defense is atrocious.

100% Disapprove

Odd personnel decisions
Too reliant on the passing game

If Chan doesn’t make a defensive coordinator adjustment i’ll be over 100% disapprove

Chris White is doing great with his rehab from torn ACL in Dallas game
Hopefully he will be back next year to enoy a long career as a Bills player
Hopefully the Bills can recoup their magic from earlier this year

go figure.

The 7 game losing streak just when the team had a great shot at making the playoffs has to have the coach accountable. It doesn’t mean I want him fired but I can’t approve of his coaching in the last 2 months.

That says it all..

If I was only successful 30% of the time at work or school I wouldn’t be getting approval from anyone…

Hard to believe I’m still not sure after 2 years, but I am. I see good things and bad. My real dissatisfaction in how the Bills are set up for the future lies with Buddy Nix. But back to Chan:

Positives:

Somehow has made an offensive line with minimal talent and maximum injuries into a decent group. Gotta respect that…even if it means limiting the offense a bit by not calling long-developing pass routes and such and encouraging Fitz to get the ball out quickly.

Has coached Fitzpatrick to maximize his talents and has him playing better than I could have ever expected him to play. Having said that, I am 100% confident that Fitz is not the long-term answer at the position, so if the Bills are unable to upgrade this offseason (by drafting a young QB to sit and learn behind Fitz until ready to play) AND if Chan is encouraging Buddy Nix that Fitz is the Franchise’s future at the position, then I will begin to blame Chan for not having the vision to realize Fitz is simply an adequate “placeholder” until the real future QB is found. But for now, I have no evidence of this, so I will wait to see.

At times his offense has been on a roll, looking very hard to stop.

I don’t have many issues with his in-game decisions.

I like his straight-forward press conferences and easy to understand answers. Seems to give honest answers when he can.

I think the players really like to play for him.

I like his decision to sit Stevie for the rest of the Pats game.

Negatives:

The biggest negative for me is still in the future…that is IF Chan really believes Fitzpatrick is the long-term answer for the Bills at QB. If he falls in love with what he has been able to coach Fitz into, all his other positives won’t matter, because the Bills will never be able to win the Super Bowl. That simple. On the other hand, if Chan realizes he’s done a fantastic job of getting Fitz to this point, but that Fitz’s limitations will not allow him to progress much further, and thus, a Franchise QB must be acquired soon, then I am all for him.

Obviously, the defensive performance has not been acceptable. Hopefully all the defensive draft picks of the last 2 drafts will begin to contribute more to helping the defense improve in the years to come.

Don’t like moving Moats’ position around, and in the end making him ineffective this year after showing some nice potential last year.

Not continuing to run the football in games in which it is working is often a head-scratcher.

The long losing streaks are troubling.

I don’t like the fact that he is basically the Head Coach and Offensive Co-ordinator. Not that I can pinpoint instances where it is negatively effecting the team….it’s more just a situation that I don’t believe is a great setup. Seems like too much responsibility on one person. And why wouldn’t you want another offensive-minded person to help gameplan and bounce ideas off each other? I would like to see a real OC brought in.

Was not happy to see Geoff Hangartner cut when it happened, and was even more unhappy about it when Wood was lost for the season. Really, unless there was pressure placed on Chan to cut Hang due to his salary by the financial people at One Bills Drive, I just don’t understand letting go a guy who could backup 3 different positions on the offensive line. And even if his salary was the reason, why not see if he will take a paycut to stay in Buffalo? What do you have to lose….he says no? You were going to cut him anyway! How it happened was also a little strange…a few days before the cuts were made, Hangartner was interviewed and said he had “guarantees” that he would be on the roster…so obviously, he either didn’t understand or was mislead. Either way, the Bills DEF could have used him this year.

Conclusion:

Many of the negatives and positives of Coach Gailey largely cancel each other out, and I am left with an unsure feeling about his performance so far. My general sentiment is that Gailey is doing all he can to get maximum performance from a group of late round draft picks, undrafted rookies, other team’s cut players, and “second/third level” free agents still available late in the process. I’m not sure that another coach could take the players currently on the roster and get them to the playoffs.

What really will solidify my outlook will be how Chan and the Bills deal with the QB position going forward. I really hope the contract they just gave to Fitz doesn’t preclude them from drafting the future at the position early in the draft asap. In my mind, little else matters if we have Fitz at QB (unless of course the defense turns into the 1985 Bears or 2000 Ravens type all time great defense)…I have not been waiting 12 years so I can see the Bills sneak into the playoffs for a few years and maybe win one game. Nope, I’ve waited this long, I want to see them do it right…draft a star QB, sit him for a year behind Fitz and then show me the baby.

I voted unsure.

I think he did a great job handling Stevie. He said if you get penalized for celebration, you will be benched. You have to stick to your word.

The only thing that alarms me is his blind faith in Fitz and recievers. The play calling has become pretty alarming by relying heavily on the pass, when we have a great backfield. When Fred was posting the league’s best rushing numbers, we still threw the ball on most 3&1 situations.

The spread should be a package, not your base offense. The plays have become so predictable, defenses could cheat and shut down the offense completely.

Our defense is terrible, but I think criticism of the offense is warranted. The few times we ran on 3&1, it was out of the shotgun, with 4 recievers, and no extra blockers and we got stuffed. 3rd down conversion rates dropped dramatically after the defenses cheated, because they knew what we were going to do before we did it. I know in a miami game we didn’t convert a single 3rd down. I believe there may have been another game like that as well. I know the team has been injured a lot, but come on, you have to convert at least ONE conversion!!!

There was a lot that went right this season, and then a whole lot that went wrong. Unfortunately, I don’t know how much of it we can pin on Gailey. Sure, there are decisions he’s made that I disagree with, but at the same time every coach in history has made decisions I disagree with. I will probably continue to vote Not Sure of him until near the end of next season, where we find out for sure if both he and Nix have changed the team for the better, or have failed spectacularly.

Voted APPROVE
I’m not a fan of the spread, yet look what N.E. is able to do with a complex passing attack. I think Chan is thinking championship, and a straightforward running attack is probably not going to get us there. We need a few more ace players to make the style click, though.
Fitz: I’ve been a big supporter, and am glad he got his full shot this season. With that said, he didn’t exactly put a stranglehold on the job.
Moving into year three of the BuChan era, lots of parts are in place and acclimated; now it’s time to perform. The Wannstedt move also should help. 11 years as a head coach; “a wealth of experience”, as Chan said. 8-8 or better next year with no losing streaks of more than two games is a realistic expectation.

On one hand, I approve of what he’s done. I approve of the way he handled the Stevie thing. I disapprove of his continued reluctance to use Spiller as though he’s a true NFL player.

How do I vote here? I guess given the fact they’re 6-10, i’ll diapprove of Gailey’s efforts this month.