TEICHER-Chiefs hire Gailey(new) - Page 2

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.”

**cdcox** · 01-16-2008, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOATSE

It is.

I've found web links that say Gailey was the coordinator and others that say Kubiak was. Regardless, I think the Denver offensive brain trust during those years was clearly Shannahan/Kubiak.

Hammock Parties · 01-16-2008, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdcox

I've found web links that say Gailey was the coordinator and others that say Kubiak was. Regardless, I think the Denver offensive brain trust during those years was clearly Shannahan/Kubiak.

Yep. He certainly wasn't calling plays anyway.

ZootedGranny · 01-16-2008, 11:27 PM

Somebody burn UCLA to the ****ing ground and murder their entire coaching staff, ASAP.

BigRock · 01-16-2008, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirk digler

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

That's what makes it a good gig. Higher pay, he gets the OC title on his resume, and no responsibility because nobody will blame him if the offense sucks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirk digler

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

The guy would be a good hire, we shouldn't kill him just because he's from UCLA. Plus, he did get fired there. Who's to say Carl wasn't one of the boosters shoving him out the door?

Zouk · 01-16-2008, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdcox

I've found web links that say Gailey was the coordinator and others that say Kubiak was. Regardless, I think the Denver offensive brain trust during those years was clearly Shannahan/Kubiak.

In 1989 and 1990 Gailey was OC, Shanahan was QB coach, and Kubiak was a QB on the team.

booger · 01-16-2008, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dirk digler

No shock that we will hire a former UCLA Coach.

Carl is still calling the shots

At first glance yes.........But............Jon Embree, our current TE coach was Asst. HC/wr coach then Asst. HC/TE coach for Dorrell's first three years at UCLA until herm hired him. I guess you could say Embree was a Carl hire too. If that was the case though he would have fired him with Solari and the others.

Embree will be able to give him any insight he wants about working for Herm. Plus like has been said DEN wanting him to replace Heimendingle.

Personally I would prefer Hue Jackson but he may go back to Cinci.

Hammock Parties · 01-16-2008, 11:40 PM

Trent Green is having a little trouble remembering the snap count.

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 01-16-2008, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCChiefsfan88

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

Wonderful

Former head coaches are a wonderful commodity to have around Herm.

teedubya · 01-16-2008, 11:46 PM

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.

Its all about getting to the playoffs... **** those superbowl victory things... its about the Playoffs. Now, Get over it.

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 01-16-2008, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nzoner

No shit?

I laughed in an unnatural way when I read that. It was genuinely funny, but for ****s sake it's our head coach doing it.

**007** · 01-17-2008, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ari Chi3fs

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.

Its all about getting to the playoffs... **** those superbowl victory things... its about the Playoffs. Now, Get over it.

Notice a trend there? 2 years everywhere he goes?

**Mr. Flopnuts** · 01-17-2008, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guru

Notice a trend there? 2 years everywhere he goes?

I noticed that too. 2 years may not be enough here.

splatbass · 01-17-2008, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ari Chi3fs

Its all about getting to the playoffs... **** those superbowl victory things... its about the Playoffs. Now, Get over it.

You can't get to the SB until you make the playoffs.

keg in kc · 01-17-2008, 07:25 AM

I don't get Aikman's quote. When were the 90's Cowboys ever sophisticated in terms of passing? That team was all Emmitt all the time. Guy averaged 350 carries a season during their title run, cleared 1700 yards rushing twice, and was just under 1500 yards the other two years. And he caught 50+ passes/year during that time.

Aikman never - in his entire career - had 3500 yards passing and only once cleared 20 TDs. Another funny thing is, he threw 442 passes under Gailey in '99, which was the third most attempts in his 12-year career.

That team was probably the most conservative version of the Coryell offense to date, although the Chiefs in '05 might challenge for that title.

Hog's Gone Fishin · 01-17-2008, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCChiefsfan88

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

Wonderful

Being fired is overated. Sometimes people get canned just because they look stupid.

01-16-2008, 11:03 PM
C-Mac Lurker Extraordinaire Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Wally World Casino cash: $1133699	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: 5,638

01-16-2008, 11:27 PM	#18
ZootedGranny Chump Steamroller Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: . Casino cash: $10015042	Somebody burn UCLA to the ****ing ground and murder their entire coaching staff, ASAP.
Posts: 3,974

01-16-2008, 11:40 PM	#22
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $3200478	Trent Green is having a little trouble remembering the snap count. __________________ Chiefs game films
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01-16-2008, 11:46 PM	#24
teedubya Most Valuable Poster Join Date: Oct 2003 Casino cash: $9320002	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. Its all about getting to the playoffs... **** those superbowl victory things... its about the Playoffs. Now, Get over it.
Posts: 36,708

01-17-2008, 07:25 AM	#29
keg in kc oxymoron Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: OP/KC/Whatever Casino cash: $9556299	I don't get Aikman's quote. When were the 90's Cowboys ever sophisticated in terms of passing? That team was all Emmitt all the time. Guy averaged 350 carries a season during their title run, cleared 1700 yards rushing twice, and was just under 1500 yards the other two years. And he caught 50+ passes/year during that time. Aikman never - in his entire career - had 3500 yards passing and only once cleared 20 TDs. Another funny thing is, he threw 442 passes under Gailey in '99, which was the third most attempts in his 12-year career. That team was probably the most conservative version of the Coryell offense to date, although the Chiefs in '05 might challenge for that title.
Posts: 58,682