NFL Notebook: Gailey returns to coach Buffalo
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Chan Gailey's hopes of becoming an NFL head coach again looked as if they crashed last summer when he was fired as the Chiefs' offensive coordinator. But even during his first season out of coaching in more than three decades, Gailey kept believing.
"You hope that your body of work will speak for itself," said Gailey, 58.
He was rewarded for that belief yesterday when he was hired as head coach of the Buffalo Bills.
The Chiefs were 2-14 in 2008, Gailey's only season as their offensive coordinator, but he was hardly to blame. The Chiefs lost their two top quarterbacks to injury early that season, forcing them to go with untested Tyler Thigpen.
His ideas clashed last year with those of new Chiefs coach Todd Haley, and Haley fired Gailey shortly before the start of the regular season.
Gailey immediately had to defend himself against suggestions that Bills fans were looking for a bigger-name hire along the lines of Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan. "I can't say anything to change anybody's mind," Gailey said.
"All I can do is go help us try to win football games. If we win football games, everybody's mind will be changed."
Gailey was head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons in the late 1990s and for six years in college at Georgia Tech before joining the Chiefs.
Dallas owner Jerry Jones is giving every indication that he is picking up coach Wade Phillips' contract option for the 2010 season, and likely keeping him longer. "We don't have any funny business here guys. There's nothing funny going on here, at all," Jones said. "We just want to do this when we both can do it and both get it stated the way we want to state it."
Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan's stay on the job market was brief. Miami hired Nolan less than 24 hours after the announcement he was leaving the Broncos after one season. Nolan replaces Paul Pasqualoni, fired after the defense backslid in his second season.
Seattle hired Green Bay Packers executive John Schneider as their new general manager to work "shoulder to shoulder" with powerful new coach Pete Carroll in a revamped team leadership.
Deuce McAllister has decided to retire from pro football, ending an injury plagued eight-year career in which he rewrote New Orleans' rushing records. McAllister hasn't played since 2008 but rejoined the Saints last week to serve as an honorary captain for the playoff victory against Arizona.
Washington guard Chad Rinehart has been arrested on public intoxication charges in Iowa after he pulled on a locked door at a pizza restaurant. University of Northern Iowa police said officers responded to a door alarm at Mojo's Pizza House in Cedar Falls about 2 a.m. When they arrived they found Rinehart pulling on a locked door. Rinehart, who played at Northern Iowa from 2004-07, appeared to be intoxicated and refused a breath test and was arrested.
First Published January 20, 2010 12:32 am
