Chiefs’ Chan Gailey takes a time-honored approach to offense

[C-Mac]

Chiefs’ Chan Gailey takes a time-honored approach to offense
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

Chan Gailey wouldn’t let up.

The Chiefs’ new offensive coordinator sat down last month with first-round pick Branden Albert and talked about the future and which position the youngster would play. Albert had played guard at Virginia, and Gailey was talking about moving the rookie to tackle — left tackle, one of any NFL team’s marquee and highest-pressure positions.

Albert was listening, but Gailey kept saying it.

“He sat me down and told me, ‘You’re going to play left tackle for us,’ ” Albert said Wednesday. “He was real stern about it. He said, ‘You’re going to play. You’re going to get it.’

“You’ve got to trust him. You’ve got to go with it.”

The Chiefs are going with a lot of what Gailey has suggested since he replaced Mike Solari in January. After arriving in Kansas City, he started changing anything that looked like it might have caused last year’s 4-12 record.

The Chiefs attempted 563 passes last year, 11th-most in the NFL. Gailey’s offense centers on power running and play-action, which coaches hope will relieve pressure on second-year starting quarterback Brodie Croyle.

Gailey simplified the playbook. He wanted a younger, defined offensive line. One of those young players was Albert, and his move to left tackle squeezed veteran Damion McIntosh to the right side. It hasn’t been easy for McIntosh.

“I played left tackle for eight years. I’ve never played right tackle. You tell me if it’s hard or not,” McIntosh said. “They ask me to do something, and regardless of whether I like it or not, I’ve got to try it.”

That’s what Gailey said he has asked of the Chiefs’ veterans: Give his offense, and all the changes, a chance.

“I told the players: I don’t have any kind of magic offense,” Gailey said. “I don’t have any pixie dust that I sprinkle and all of a sudden we become good. We have to work at it. There’s nothing magic about what we’ve got.”

Until last year, Gailey was Georgia Tech’s head coach. He had been the Dallas Cowboys’ head coach for two years in the late 1990s. He’s now in his third NFL coordinator job.

“You can tell he’s an O-coordinator,” McIntosh said. “That’s what he’s built for; that’s what he knows.”

Gailey’s offense is not glamorous or tricky but instead is a throwback. Gailey is a 56-year-old football guy, a man who talks about toughness and pride in a thick Georgia drawl. Offense, in Gailey’s opinion, isn’t about fooling defenses; it’s about beating them.

“I believe in running the football,” Gailey said. “I believe you have to be a physical football team to win. It’s a tough game for tough people.”

Edwards couldn’t help but laugh this week when asked to describe Gailey’s offense.

There’s no style or signature; it’s just simple and efficient — kind of like Gailey himself, Edwards said.

“I love Chan because he says: ‘Hey, I’m not a genius. Don’t label me a genius. I never wanted to be a genius. I’m just a football coach,’ ” Edwards said. “The players like that.”

And it has gotten their attention. Sure, McIntosh is uncomfortable at right tackle, but he says he’s learning and adjusting. And yes, Albert is trying to become what Gailey sees in him. Players are getting used to the changes and the man who spearheaded them.

Whatever works, Gailey said, as long as last year doesn’t happen again.

“We’re trying to score one more point than the other guy,” he said. “We’re going to put our players in position to be successful. That’s our whole job, to let them be successful. We’re just going to try and be as good as we can be.”