Chan Gailey

The Bills hired Chan Gailey yesterday to be the team’s next head coach.  Gailey will replace Dick Jauron, who was fired in November after doing absolutely nothing to improve the team in his 4 years as coach.  GM Buddy Nix said on multiple occassions that he wanted a coach that both had previous head coaching experience and was an offensive minded coach.

In stepped Chan Gailey, who was exactly what Nix was looking for in his coach.  Gailey has had much success as offensive coordinator for both the Miami Dolphins in 2000-2001, when the team posted consecutive 11-5 seasons, and for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1994-1997.  During this time period the Steelers played in Super Bowl XXX and won the AFC Central 4 consecutive times.

Gailey also was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 1998-1999.  In 2 seasons he went 18-14 and made the playoffs both years.  He was subsequently fired, although to this day Cowboys owner Jerry Jones regrets his decision to fire Gailey in favor of Dave Campo.  Gailey had the Cowboys going in the right direction, and Jones’ quick trigger on Gailey may have partially caused the Cowboys long playoff victory drought which was only reversed this season.

After Gailey’s stint in Dallas, he was hired by Georgia Tech, where he coached for 5 seasons.  Gailey posted a respectable 44-32 record, with a 28-20 record in the ACC, before being replaced by Paul Johnson.

Therefore, the Bills have hired a coach that has had much success as an offensive coordinator, and has had some success as a head coach.  Many people think that this move was not a very good move because Gailey has never been able to get his teams to the pinnacle.  He has never won a Super Bowl and has never gone to a BCS Bowl as a coach at any level.  However, these critics need to realize that what Gailey has coached his teams to the postseason consistently.  He went to a bowl each year at Georgia Tech, went to the playoffs both years in Dallas, went to the playoffs each year in Miami, and went to the playoffs all 4 years in Pittsburgh including a trip to Super Bowl XXX.  So yes, he has never won, but Bills fans are not worried about that.  Bills fans are worried about getting to the postseason at all. 

The Bills are currently tied with the Lions for the longest postseason drought.  The Bills have not been to the postseason in the last 10 years, since 1999, when the Bills lost in the Music City Miracle to the Tennessee Titans, due to a controversial call in the final minute.  Therefore, Buddy Nix was looking for a coach with the experience of a head coach that has had success in molding teams into postseason caliber teams.  Gailey has always been able to improve his teams from when he entered the situation and has had success in earning trips to the postseason.  Trips to the postseason are exactly what Bills fans are looking for in the coming seasons.

How can this be done?  The Bills have plenty of problems.  The most important problem that must be addressed in the offense.  The offense has consistently ranked 25th or worse over the past decade, and has lacked effective leadership at the quarterback position.  Trent Edwards, who was the starting quarterback for just over 2 years before being benched halfway through this season even after recovering from injury.  The Bills gave Ryan Fitzpatrick the starting position for the 2nd half of the 2009 season.  Therefore, the Bills seem to have much more problems at quarterback now than at the beginning of the season.  Gailey’s task will be to revamp the offense to become a respectable NFL offense.  Gailey has had experience working with non-traditional offenses in the past.  He helped Kordell Stewart to become an effective quarterback in Pittsburgh by effectively using his athletic ability to keep defenses off guard, and this experience will help him in Buffalo.

So where should the offense go from here?  Rushing attack, rushing attack, rushing attack.  The Bills have two very talented running backs, Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson, who have show the ability to carry the load of a starting running back.  These two backs, if properly utilized, can become one of the most effective two back systems in the league.  The Bills also have several talented wide receivers.  Lee Evans and Josh Reed have showed the ability at times to be explosive receivers, and simply need to become more consistent.  It is unclear whether or not Terrell Owens will remain with the Bills next year, but he is also a potentially explosive wide receiver.  The Bills need a quarterback that can get the ball to these receivers consistently.  Trent Edwards has not shown the ability to throw the ball effectively anywhere except short and over the middle.  Therefore, with a low draft pick the Bills need to either draft a talented quarterback or trade for an experienced veteran with the ability to thrown downfield.  My answer: draft Sam Bradford.  Whether one believes that Bradford could drop to the Bills at pick 9 or not, the Bills need to find a way to draft him.  Trade up, give up some later draft picks, it does not matter, the Bills are about 15 years late in replacing Jim Kelly at quarterback.  Draft Sam Bradford.

The other option is to sign Michael Vick.  As mentioned, Gailey has had success in developing Kordell Stewart as a quarterback, who has many of the same physical attributes that Vick has.  Vick could have much success in Buffalo if a Paul Johnson type option offense was instituted by Gailey.  Johnson currently uses the triple option system at, ironically, Georgia Tech, where Gailey last was a head coach.  This system would work as well, if not better, as it does at Georgia Tech because the Bills simply have better athletes.  With an extremely athletic quarterback (who can also throw the ball effectively), two talented running backs, and three talented wide receivers, the system could work extremely well for Buffalo if instituted correctly.  It would be a complete overhaul of the offensive system, and may take a few years to make the system work seamlessly, but for the first time in years, the Bills would be headed in a specific direction with a purpose.  This alone would give Bills fans a reason to support this type of decision, and it would be welcomed by the city and Bills fans.

Therefore, Gailey faces a difficult situation in Buffalo, but it certainly has some good pieces in place and good options from which to proceed.  Gailey’s offensive background and head coaching experience could be a difference maker in terms of the Bills’ future success.  Two feasible options from which to proceed include drafting a strong-armed, talented quarterback like Sam Bradford, or instituting a triple option system and signing Michael Vick to be the new starting quarterback.