TEICHER-Chiefs hire Gailey(new)

C-Mac · 01-16-2008, 11:03 PM

Chiefs hire Gailey as offensive coordinator
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star

When he started his search for a new offensive coordinator, Herm Edwards could have gone after a bigger, more popular name: Mike Martz, Cam Cameron, Brian Billick.

He could have found a bright, aggressive up-and-comer yet to make a name for himself in coaching, someone like Texas-El Paso’s Eric Price, who wound up interviewing for the job.

None was a better fit for the Chiefs, in Edwards’ opinion, than Chan Gailey, which is why the veteran coach got the job Wednesday.

“He’s a good fit for us,” Edwards said. “He’s a veteran play-caller, and our philosophies are similar. Just follow the guy’s career. You know he’s a solid guy. He’s a good teacher. He can make it simple enough that the young guys can line up and play. He’s been on the college level for the last six years. He can relate to the younger players.

“He understands how we want to play football: offense, defense and special teams together. He’s been a head coach. He’s been in that seat.

“The thing I like about Chan when we talked is the one thing he kept saying. He kept saying that it’s real simple, what it’s all about. It’s about winning the game and doing whatever you have to do to win the game. He’s exactly right.”

The Chiefs still need to hire wide receiver, offensive line and running back coaches. They were close to hiring Karl Dorrell as the receivers coach. Dorrell, recently fired after five seasons as UCLA’s head coach, formerly coached wide receivers for the Broncos.

His search for a coordinator never took Edwards to a name with more sizzle, possibly excepting former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel, who never appeared to be a serious candidate.

Edwards passed on inviting big names like Martz, Cameron or Billick to interview mainly because he wasn’t sure any of them would have been a good match. There’s no guarantee any of them would have been interested.

The Chiefs have plenty of building to do, so coordinating their offense isn’t a prime job at the moment. And working under Edwards’ conservative, often-confining parameters could have scared away many qualified candidates.

At the other end, Edwards needed to find a coach he could sell to the returning players, who are beaten down by one of the worst offensive seasons in Chiefs history. That might have been difficult with the other publicly identified candidates: Fassel (fired at midseason by Baltimore from his most-recent coordinator job), Price (hasn’t coordinated an offense in the NFL or major college) or Jacksonville quarterbacks coach Mike Shula (his teams ran predictable offenses and scored few points).

Edwards doesn’t believe selling Gailey, 56, to his players will be difficult. Gailey has ample selling points.

Generally, Gailey has succeeded as an NFL offensive coordinator. While his teams haven’t always been high-scoring, they’ve almost always won. He was coordinator for the Broncos (1989 and 1990), Steelers (1996 and 1997) and Dolphins (2000 and 2001) for a total of six seasons, and five of those teams advanced to the playoffs.

The 1989 Broncos and 1996 Steelers reached the Super Bowl.

His teams almost always ran the ball well, no small matter to Edwards.

Gailey spent the last six seasons as head coach at Georgia Tech, taking the Yellow Jackets to a bowl game every year before being fired at the end of this season. He was also head coach for the Dallas Cowboys in 1998 and 1999, though that experience didn’t go quite as smoothly.

The Cowboys went to the playoffs each season, but lost in the first round both times. Gailey alienated some of his key players, including eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, and was fired.

“His background was more of a power running game and not real sophisticated in the passing game,” Aikman said. “Chan wanted to do things entirely different from the way we had done it and the way we had had success. That was very challenging, not only for me, but for our entire team. He’d had a great deal of success doing it his way in Pittsburgh, running the football. I and our team had a great deal of success and won three Super Bowls doing it a different way. It just was not a good fit.”
Edwards had a different view of Gailey. He became well-acquainted with Gailey’s coaching in 2001 when Edwards coached the Jets and faced Gailey and the Dolphins twice as division rivals.

“His offenses were always tough,” Edwards said. “They ran the ball. His teams were always balanced. When you were trying to defend against him, you always knew they could run it, so you knew you would have to stop the run. They could throw it, so you had to watch the big play in the passing game. They were good on third downs. They always had some special plays you had to watch out for. Very tough to defend.”

While the Chiefs are moving away from the offensive system they used for several seasons, Edwards laid out only in broad terms what the new offense would look like.

“It’s going to be a balanced attack,” he said. “It’ll be the Chiefs offense. I don’t want to call it anything else.

“We’ll run the ball between the tackles. That’s what (Larry Johnson) does (well). In the passing game, we’ll take our shots down the field. (Gailey) believes in getting big plays. We’ll have the ability to go no-huddle. We’ll have the ability to line up four wideouts. We could have a different plan every week. But the staple will be toughness. That’s what we’ll be.”

Thig Lyfe · 01-16-2008, 11:05 PM

My reaction to every hire this team ever makes will be negative until they prove I should react otherwise.

DAMMIT CARL!!!

**dirk digler** · 01-16-2008, 11:06 PM

No shock that we will hire a former UCLA Coach.

Carl is still calling the shots

**cdcox** · 01-16-2008, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirk digler

No shock that we will hire a former UCLA Coach.

Carl is still calling the shots

Beat me to it.

FloridaMan88 · 01-16-2008, 11:11 PM

Quote:

“His background was more of a power running game and not real sophisticated in the passing game,”

This is a Herm wet dream

BigRock · 01-16-2008, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirk digler

No shock that we will hire a former UCLA Coach.

Carl is still calling the shots

Dorrell is supposedly the guy the Donks want as their OC now that Mike Hermiedingy has gone back to the Titans. It'd be funny to steal 2 coaches they wanted, but surely if he has an OC offer he'd take that above being a position coach.

**Rain Man** · 01-16-2008, 11:12 PM

A simple passing approach could actually be effective with a team that has a young QB with a shotgun arm, combined with two big bruisers like Tony G and Dwayne Bowe. The goal should be simply to get the ball into their hands.

I laughed every time they threw that fast pass to Dwayne Bowe this year. Every single time but one, I think, he broke the cornerback's attempt at a tackle and kept going.

FloridaMan88 · 01-16-2008, 11:13 PM

Dorrell, Gailey... Herm is trying to assemble an offensive staff of recently fired college head coaches

Wonderful

**dirk digler** · 01-16-2008, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRock

Dorrell is supposedly the guy the Donks want as their OC now that Mike Hermiedingy has gone back to the Titans. It'd be funny to steal 2 coaches they wanted, but surely if he has an OC offer he'd take that above being a position coach.

Being an OC in Denver is like being a position coach because Shanahan calls all the plays

With that being said if they hire Dorrell then we still know who is calling the shots at 1 Arrowhead Drive

**cdcox** · 01-16-2008, 11:15 PM

"He was coordinator for the Broncos (1989 and 1990)..."

This isn't true, is it?

RedDread · 01-16-2008, 11:16 PM

“He’s a good fit for us,” Edwards said. “He’s a veteran play-caller, and our philosophies are similar...."

WE'RE DOOMED!!!!

Hammock Parties · 01-16-2008, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdcox

"He was coordinator for the Broncos (1989 and 1990)..."

This isn't true, is it?

It is.

Marty Mac Ver 2.0 · 01-16-2008, 11:17 PM

Actually I like the move to hire Dorrell, he'd be a great mentor to D-Bo.

**dirk digler** · 01-16-2008, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdcox

"He was coordinator for the Broncos (1989 and 1990)..."

This isn't true, is it?

Quote:

Gailey moved to the National Football League the next year, when the Denver Broncos signed him as a defensive assistant and special teams coach.

**Nzoner** · 01-16-2008, 11:19 PM

Quote:

“The thing I like about Chan when we talked is the one thing he kept saying. He kept saying that it’s real simple, what it’s all about. It’s about winning the game and doing whatever you have to do to win the game. He’s exactly right.”

No shit?

01-16-2008, 11:03 PM
C-Mac Lurker Extraordinaire Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Wally World Casino cash: $2083699	TEICHER-Chiefs hire Gailey(new) Chiefs hire Gailey as offensive coordinator By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star When he started his search for a new offensive coordinator, Herm Edwards could have gone after a bigger, more popular name: Mike Martz, Cam Cameron, Brian Billick. He could have found a bright, aggressive up-and-comer yet to make a name for himself in coaching, someone like Texas-El Paso’s Eric Price, who wound up interviewing for the job. None was a better fit for the Chiefs, in Edwards’ opinion, than Chan Gailey, which is why the veteran coach got the job Wednesday. “He’s a good fit for us,” Edwards said. “He’s a veteran play-caller, and our philosophies are similar. Just follow the guy’s career. You know he’s a solid guy. He’s a good teacher. He can make it simple enough that the young guys can line up and play. He’s been on the college level for the last six years. He can relate to the younger players. “He understands how we want to play football: offense, defense and special teams together. He’s been a head coach. He’s been in that seat. “The thing I like about Chan when we talked is the one thing he kept saying. He kept saying that it’s real simple, what it’s all about. It’s about winning the game and doing whatever you have to do to win the game. He’s exactly right.” The Chiefs still need to hire wide receiver, offensive line and running back coaches. They were close to hiring Karl Dorrell as the receivers coach. Dorrell, recently fired after five seasons as UCLA’s head coach, formerly coached wide receivers for the Broncos. His search for a coordinator never took Edwards to a name with more sizzle, possibly excepting former New York Giants coach Jim Fassel, who never appeared to be a serious candidate. Edwards passed on inviting big names like Martz, Cameron or Billick to interview mainly because he wasn’t sure any of them would have been a good match. There’s no guarantee any of them would have been interested. The Chiefs have plenty of building to do, so coordinating their offense isn’t a prime job at the moment. And working under Edwards’ conservative, often-confining parameters could have scared away many qualified candidates. At the other end, Edwards needed to find a coach he could sell to the returning players, who are beaten down by one of the worst offensive seasons in Chiefs history. That might have been difficult with the other publicly identified candidates: Fassel (fired at midseason by Baltimore from his most-recent coordinator job), Price (hasn’t coordinated an offense in the NFL or major college) or Jacksonville quarterbacks coach Mike Shula (his teams ran predictable offenses and scored few points). Edwards doesn’t believe selling Gailey, 56, to his players will be difficult. Gailey has ample selling points. Generally, Gailey has succeeded as an NFL offensive coordinator. While his teams haven’t always been high-scoring, they’ve almost always won. He was coordinator for the Broncos (1989 and 1990), Steelers (1996 and 1997) and Dolphins (2000 and 2001) for a total of six seasons, and five of those teams advanced to the playoffs. The 1989 Broncos and 1996 Steelers reached the Super Bowl. His teams almost always ran the ball well, no small matter to Edwards. Gailey spent the last six seasons as head coach at Georgia Tech, taking the Yellow Jackets to a bowl game every year before being fired at the end of this season. He was also head coach for the Dallas Cowboys in 1998 and 1999, though that experience didn’t go quite as smoothly. The Cowboys went to the playoffs each season, but lost in the first round both times. Gailey alienated some of his key players, including eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, and was fired. “His background was more of a power running game and not real sophisticated in the passing game,” Aikman said. “Chan wanted to do things entirely different from the way we had done it and the way we had had success. That was very challenging, not only for me, but for our entire team. He’d had a great deal of success doing it his way in Pittsburgh, running the football. I and our team had a great deal of success and won three Super Bowls doing it a different way. It just was not a good fit.” Edwards had a different view of Gailey. He became well-acquainted with Gailey’s coaching in 2001 when Edwards coached the Jets and faced Gailey and the Dolphins twice as division rivals. “His offenses were always tough,” Edwards said. “They ran the ball. His teams were always balanced. When you were trying to defend against him, you always knew they could run it, so you knew you would have to stop the run. They could throw it, so you had to watch the big play in the passing game. They were good on third downs. They always had some special plays you had to watch out for. Very tough to defend.” While the Chiefs are moving away from the offensive system they used for several seasons, Edwards laid out only in broad terms what the new offense would look like. “It’s going to be a balanced attack,” he said. “It’ll be the Chiefs offense. I don’t want to call it anything else. “We’ll run the ball between the tackles. That’s what (Larry Johnson) does (well). In the passing game, we’ll take our shots down the field. (Gailey) believes in getting big plays. We’ll have the ability to go no-huddle. We’ll have the ability to line up four wideouts. We could have a different plan every week. But the staple will be toughness. That’s what we’ll be.”
Posts: 5,636

01-16-2008, 11:05 PM	#2
Thig Lyfe Banned Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Thigpen's America Casino cash: $10004900	My reaction to every hire this team ever makes will be negative until they prove I should react otherwise. DAMMIT CARL!!!
Posts: 25,680

01-16-2008, 11:06 PM	#3
dirk digler Please squeeze Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Clinton, MO Casino cash: $3014644	No shock that we will hire a former UCLA Coach. Carl is still calling the shots
Posts: 66,395

01-16-2008, 11:12 PM	#7
Rain Man NFL's #1 Ermines Fan Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $3048491 VARSITY	A simple passing approach could actually be effective with a team that has a young QB with a shotgun arm, combined with two big bruisers like Tony G and Dwayne Bowe. The goal should be simply to get the ball into their hands. I laughed every time they threw that fast pass to Dwayne Bowe this year. Every single time but one, I think, he broke the cornerback's attempt at a tackle and kept going. __________________ I'm putting random letters here as a celebration of free speech: xigrakgrah misorojeq rkemeseit.
Posts: 141,663

01-16-2008, 11:13 PM	#8
FloridaMan88 Mahomes: We Are All Witnesses Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Miami, FL Casino cash: $2892906	Dorrell, Gailey... Herm is trying to assemble an offensive staff of recently fired college head coaches Wonderful
Posts: 38,714

01-16-2008, 11:15 PM	#10
cdcox www.nfl-forecast.com Join Date: Sep 2000 Casino cash: $2211769	"He was coordinator for the Broncos (1989 and 1990)..." This isn't true, is it?
Posts: 45,543

01-16-2008, 11:16 PM	#11
RedDread Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Back in KC Casino cash: $10007771	“He’s a good fit for us,” Edwards said. “He’s a veteran play-caller, and our philosophies are similar...." WE'RE DOOMED!!!!
Posts: 4,167

01-16-2008, 11:17 PM	#13
Marty Mac Ver 2.0 SaveOurChiefs.com Join Date: Sep 2004 Casino cash: $10005625	Actually I like the move to hire Dorrell, he'd be a great mentor to D-Bo. __________________ It's not the number of years in your life but the amount of life in your years!
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