Chan Gailey: The answer in Buffalo? Doubtful

The Bills hired Chan Gailey as their new head coach yesterday. The same Chan Gailey who hasn't been an NFL head coach since 1999, when he took Dallas to the playoffs in two straight seasons.

Since then, Gailey has spent six seasons as head coach at Georgia Tech and a few as an NFL offensive coordinator with Miami and Kansas City. Apparently the Bills thought he deserved a second chance at being an NFL head coach.

Bills general manager Buddy Nix said there were many candidates with interest in the Buffalo coaching job and that they could have hired as many as 40 people on the first day. If this was really the case, why Gailey?

Owner Ralph Wilson wanted an offensive mind, and he got that in Gailey. Marty Schottenheimer apparently wanted the job, but as a former defensive coordinator he didn't fit the bill. Schottenheimer's success as a head coach in the past obviously was of no intrigue to Wilson, who claimed he didn't feel "comfortable" with Schottenheimer.

The irony is that Wilson felt comfortable enough with Schottenheimer's son, Brian, to offer him an interview. The current Jets offensive coordinator was apparently so interested in the job that he didn't even accept the opportunity to interview. Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was also in the running, but again is not an offensive mind. So the Bills went with Gailey, who was highly recommended by Bill Cowher.

If Cowher cares enough about the Bills franchise to make suggestions on who they should hire as coach, why wouldn't he take the job? Possibly because he's not ready to return to coaching and possibly because he knows there will be better opportunities after next season. So why would he waste his time and the leverage he has to join, as my friend Ian so eloquently puts it, a "Mickey Mouse organization?"

Simply put, he wouldn't. Nobody would. Which is why Chan Gailey is now the Bills head coach. Have fun with that, Buffalo fans. The Jets, Patriots and Dolphins (who are all well-coached) will continue to lap you in the AFC East until you match the men on their sidelines. And I'm sorry, but Chan Gailey is no Bill Belichick. On that note, he's not even Rex Ryan or Tony Sparano.