A Man Named Chan

Last Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills shocked many when they announced Chan Gailey as their new head coach, replacing interim head coach Perry Fewell who left to be the Defensive Coordinator for the New York Giants.

But who is Chan Gailey? Gailey's spent the better half of the last decade as the head coach for Georgia Tech, a Division 1 college football team. Under Gailey, the Yellow Jackets never missed a bowl game and won two: the Humanitarian Bowl in 2003 and the Champs Sports Bowl in 2004.

Gailey isn't a man who's inexperienced in the NFL however, from 1996-1997 Gailey was the Offensive Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. With Gailey running the offense, the Steelers ranked second in rushing offense in 1996 and first in rushing offense in 1997. The Steelers also won their division both years and had appeared in a super bowl.

Going into the hunt for a new head coach the Bills were targeting somebody with some offensive experience as they haven't had an offense thats ranked top 15 in the NFL since 2002.

Gailey also isn't a man without head coaching experience at the NFL level, in 1998 and 1999 he coached the Dallas Cowboys. Under Gailey the Cowboys won their division in '98 and came second in their division the next year. Both years however, the Cowboys lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Looking back at the offensive statistics as that's where the Bills are desperate for improvement, Gailey's first year with the Cowboys had them finish 8th in total offense with the 8th ranked rushing offense. 1999 was a bit of a down year for Dallas overall as they dropped off all the way to the 16th spot in total offense but actually improved their already successful running game to 6th in the league.

With talented running backs Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch, Bills fans should be excited about the success Gailey has had in the past running the ball.

Despite playoff appearances, Gailey was fired after only two seasons with Dallas as the impatient owner Jerry Jones didn't feel Gailey could get the Cowboys past the first round. Jones later went on to say that he was probably wrong in firing Gailey as quickly as he did.

Chan certainly has his work cut out for him if he wants to succeed in Buffalo. With question marks at quarterback, the most important position of them all, and a weaker quarterback class than recent years don't expect the Bills to be much of a threat in the air.

The offensive line isn't much better. Demetrius Bell's potential is still something to look forward to but who knows how he will recover from his injured knee. Plus, it's never good to enter a season not sure if your left tackle, the cornerstone of the offensive line, is healthy or not.

And those are just the offensive issues. Buffalo ranked dead last in stopping the run last season. This draft class does feature one of the most promising Defensive Tackle prospects in recent history in Ndamukong Suh but he is expected to be off the board far before Buffalo selects.

That means the Bills have gaping holes at three positions, Quarterback, Left Tackle, and Defensive Tackle. Maybe they should steal a page out of the division rival New England Patriot's playbook and trade down multiple times in the draft as it's known that it's a crapshoot and usually quantity of picks beats quality.

While it would be nice to have immediate success, General Manager Buddy Nix and Ralph Wilson should be realistic. Gailey can be a successful coach in the NFL but he isn't exactly inheriting a team close to really competing. Even if fans are screaming for Gailey's head after 2 seasons they should give him time. The last thing this franchise needs is more instability and firing Gailey would create just that.

While Bill Cowher certainly would be nice, the Bills are going to have to accept that Chan Gailey is the man running the show and the fans should be behind him 100%. Hopefully with his traditional football methods, the Bills will be back and playing in January before too long.