# Buffalo Bills inexplicably hire Chan Gailey as head coach **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 20, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645 "2010-01-20T01:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/21 "2010-01-20T17:24:30Z")
> [@](#): > > He was introduced as the 15th head coach of the Buffalo Bills on January 19th, 2010, becoming their fifth head coach in 10 years. And if he fucks this up no one will be surprised. _Citation Not Really Necessary._ ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/22 "2010-01-20T17:57:50Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > As a Bills fan, I wish I could say that this is the straw that broke the camel’s back, but until the team is actually out of Buffalo, I can’t give up on them. I am beginning to feel like a battered spouse. The Bills are so very, very sorry this had to happen. They don’t _want_ to do things like this, but when you go out and vent about their shitty performance…well, what’s an owner supposed to do? They’re sorry, but you need to accept your part of the blame in this as well. You good now? Everything all better? Don’t worry…things’ll be different this time. They promise. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/23 "2010-01-20T18:29:33Z")
To be fair, Gailey has a respectable record as a coordinator and as a head coach. He took the Cowboys to the playoffs each year he was head coach there. It’s not like the time the Jets jumped to hire Rich Kotite. Having said that, I think this is a god-awful hiring. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/24 "2010-01-20T18:52:01Z")
Seems like the Bills now have to be successful in spite of their owner. He’s sure as hell not making inspired choices at the top. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/25 "2010-01-20T18:57:39Z")
Wish you would have quoted mine out of there, **Duke**. A commenter even referred to it as “quality despair.” ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/26 "2010-01-20T19:38:14Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Wish you would have quoted mine out of there, **Duke**. A commenter even referred to it as “quality despair.” Well, shoot, I had no idea. Your blog comment was a lot more graphic and concise than the blog comments I manage to get published, I’ll say that. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/27 "2010-01-20T20:35:58Z")
Yeah, I was pretty surprised when they put it up, seeing as it wasn’t really all that vulgar and was pretty short, but hey, my getting a comment published and enjoyed by others is probably the only good thing that will come of this hiring. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/28 "2010-01-20T20:45:39Z")
I just assumed they hired him as place holder for one year, which would save the team a whole bunch of money in '11 if the players strike. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/29 "2010-01-20T20:58:29Z")
WTF is wrong wth Gailey? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/30 "2010-01-20T21:07:32Z")
This doesn’t surprise me quite as much as the Dick Jauron hiring a few years ago did. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Nene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/da6949/32.png) [@El\_Nene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Nene)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/31 "2010-01-20T21:11:27Z")
> [@](#): > > WTF is wrong wth Gailey? Seriously? He wasn’t good enough to be offensive coordinator for the crappy Chiefs offense. He was an average coach, at best, in college. When he was with the Cowboys, the players routinely walked all over him. He managed to loose to the Cardinals…with Jake Plummer. Jake Plummer. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/32 "2010-01-20T22:50:29Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I’m siding with Wilson on this one… Very wise words. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/33 "2010-01-21T00:18:32Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I just assumed they hired him as place holder for one year, which would save the team a whole bunch of money in '11 if the players strike. That’s way smarter than I can give this organization credit for. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/34 "2010-01-21T00:59:18Z")
> [@El\_Nene](#): > > He wasn’t good enough to be offensive coordinator for the crappy Chiefs offense. He was an average coach, at best, in college. When he was with the Cowboys, the players routinely walked all over him. He managed to loose to the Cardinals…with Jake Plummer. Jake Plummer. This is silly. It seems more likely that Gailey wasn’t enough of an ass-kiss or yes-man to tolerate what appear to be Todd Haley’s megalomaniacal ways. Clearly his firing did nothing to improve the state of that team, one might better guess that the only competent person in the organization was let go. Look at Georgia Tech’s history since 1992 and tell me if Gailey is the weak link in that chain. He made a bowl in all 6 seasons and never had a losing record. He was buried under NCAA sanctions for activities that happened before his watch yet he _still_ went to bowl games. Gailey’s issues at Tech had more to do with the boosters self-delusion that the Jackets are a perennial powerhouse. It’s not like he needs to recruit at the NFL level anyways. He took an aging and crumbling Cowboys dynasty to consecutive playoff appearances after Switzer tried to run it into the ground. Lets face it, as long as Jerry Jones is around Dallas coaches will get walked over by big money players. Never mind his time spent with the Super Bowl Broncos and Steelers. Gailey isn’t Cowher or Shanny. Get over it. Pretending he’s some type of coaching abortion however makes me call into question the football acumen of Bills fans. Take a minute and look around the league. When it became clear that Shanny and Cowher were holding out to cherry pick their next jobs teams all across the league stuck with underperforming embattled coaches because there weren’t any better options to be had. Was there a guy the Bills interviewed who was demonstrably better? More proven? With head coaching experience? Ralph Wilson, for better or worse, prefers experienced, low profile, quiet guys who will toe the company line. No one was complaining when it was Marv Levy. Would the Bills really have been better served with a loud, brash “sexy” coach or a completely untested college conversion? Would either of those guys have any success luring free agents to Buffalo over a know good guy like Gailey? He might not be exciting, and he’ll be a failure so long as the Bills are without a QB and decent O line, but he might just be the best fit. What the Bills need is talent first and foremost and after that a coach who doesn’t fuck things up, and let’s face it “sexy” choices like Todd Haley, Josh McDaniels and Jim Mora seemed especially apt at that. You know who didn’t fuck things up? Boring hires like Jim Caldwell and Jim Harbaugh. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/35 "2010-01-21T01:21:28Z")
You’re no fun. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/36 "2010-01-21T02:48:17Z")
Boring, I’d call him. 😛 I want to hear who Bills fans think they should have hired, since it’s clear that the most oft-named persons were either uninterested, or at least uninterested at the prices discussed. Please note that some of the most successful teams this season are coached by people who were not upper echelon, top-level choices for taking over the spot they have. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/37 "2010-01-21T07:54:09Z")
[Hitler hated the hire.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv8_pMR87bE) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/38 "2010-01-21T13:41:04Z")
I wanted them to at least interview Leslie Frazier, for starters. ---
**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/39 "2010-01-21T13:51:35Z")
As a tech student for gailey’s tenure: Good luck bills fans, this guy sucks. Yea, we went to 6 bowls (and lost all but one), but they were all bullshit bowls besides the gator bowl, which we only didn’t get destroyed in thanks to calvin johnson. He was the worst playcaller I’ve ever seen, and made such terrible decisions. Good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645/40 "2010-01-21T14:01:03Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I want to hear who Bills fans think they should have hired, since it’s clear that the most oft-named persons were either uninterested, or at least uninterested at the prices discussed. Please note that some of the most successful teams this season are coached by people who were not upper echelon, top-level choices for taking over the spot they have. Leslie Frazier would have been an excellent hire, I think. He reminds me in many ways of Mike Tomlin. And, to tell the truth, retaining Perry Fewell would have been a good choice, too. The players loved him, and he has a very sharp defensive mind, which the Giants also saw when they snapped him up almost immediately as their new defensive coordinator. So there’s at least two guys the Bills had a shot at before Gailey. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buffalo-bills-inexplicably-hire-chan-gailey-as-head-coach/525645.md?page=3)