The Buffalo Bills are 13-26 under head coach Chan Gailey in two and a half seasons' worth of play, but despite the lack of success, GM Buddy Nix hinted strongly to reporters twice on Friday that Gailey's job is safe - and that the coach's contract extends beyond the close of the 2012 season.
"He's got a year or more (left)," Nix said Friday afternoon, per The Buffalo News.
Even prior to speaking with reporters this afternoon, Nix was a guest on WGR 550's The Howard Simon Show in the morning, where he did far more than discuss drafting quarterbacks; he all but ruled out the team making a head coaching change after the season.
"There's no way that we're looking for anything like that," Nix said. "We're looking for improvement of our team and we have the right people to get them there."
Nix followed that up this afternoon with the following: "I hope I can put that to rest," he said of the idea of making a coaching change. "The age-old thing - and they've done it around here for years - is to start over about every three years. What that does is make damn sure you don't make it."
On WGR 550, Nix made it clear that Gailey is not in a "playoffs or bust" scenario, and has not been at any point.
"I'll go back to one thing: I never told you that we'd be in the playoffs," Nix said. "I said my goal was for us to take the next step and be competitive throughout the year. If we're in it at the end of the year, then we've taken the next step. Now, whether we make the playoffs remains to be seen."
Fans have been irate for months now as the Bills have struggled to show any tangible progress this season - not just in the standings, but in divisional play and defensively - and it's caused Gailey's fan approval rating to drop to an all-time low. Nix made sure to address the fans directly with his remarks this morning.
"I know you fans have been through 12 years, or whatever it is, and you're frustrated about it," Nix said. "The big thing is you don't want to start over. If you start over, you're going to get 12 more, and that's not where we're headed."