Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey held the same position with this week's opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, in 1998 and 1999. In those two seasons, the Cowboys made two playoff appearances (without winning a game) and finished a combined 18-14. He was fired after two seasons by Jerry Jones.
When he was asked about his tenure with Dallas earlier this week, Gailey maintained his focus on the present, and effectively called it ancient history. Still, we thought it'd be interesting to hear a Cowboys fan's recollection of the Gailey era in Dallas. Enter Dave Halprin, who runs SB Nation's Cowboys blog, BloggingTheBoys.com.
"Jump into the time-machine and go back to 1998," begins Halprin. "The Cowboys were starting to show wear and tear as a team, but still had the high hopes that came with the Super Bowl run from earlier that decade. Jerry Jones at that time was much more hands-on, and was much quicker with the trigger finger. He's actually mellowed since that time."
"Anyway, Gailey takes over a 6-10 team under previous coach Barry Switzer, and for two seasons gets the Cowboys to the playoffs and compiles an 18-14 regular-season record," continues Halprin. "But Dallas loses both playoff games, Jones fires Gailey and the Cowboys bottom out for three years under Dave Campo."
"Basically, I thought Gailey got too quick of a hook," concludes Halprin. "Losing the two playoff games was the thing, because for most of the decade the Cowboys had so much success in the playoffs. Jerry expected wins, and still thought of the roster as elite, but by this time it was falling apart. Gailey did what he could with the parts he had, but couldn't get the playoff wins. Who knows what he would have done if he stayed. I wasn't all gung-ho about him at the time either, so I can't blame Jerry too much, but in hindsight he did a good job."