Friday, February 13, 1998

Gailey climbs ladder to high-profile job

By Clarence E. Hill Jr.

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - When Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said last month that he had added a "mystery candidate" to his search for a new head coach, perhaps he was talking about Chan Gailey.

What Jones has reaped in his third head coach since he bought the team is a third-string college quarterback who had to double as the deep snapper to stay on the teams his senior season. In addition to hiring a creative offensive thinker who developed Kordell Stewart from an experiment into a winning NFL quarterback, Jones found a family-oriented thinker who took a small-college head-coaching job for a season so his son could graduate from the same high school where he started.

"Jerry has done his research, and Chan was the type of the coach he was looking for," said Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Reeves, who attended the same high school as Gailey in Americus, Ga., and gave him his first NFL coaching job in Denver in 1985.

"Obviously he has the knowledge. Chan has earned the right to be a head coach. He's worked hard at it. He's qualified. He's been a defensive coach. He's been an offensive coordinator. He works well with people, gets the most out of his players and is thorough."

Adds Gailey's former boss, Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher: "He has great attention to detail. If those guys mess something up in practice, they're going to know about it the minute they get back to the huddle."

Another requirement of the new Cowboys coach was being able to work within an already established system. Precedent has shown that Gailey is adaptable - he ran the wishbone in college at Troy State, cut his teeth in the NFL with the high-octane Broncos and quarterback John Elway and has proved in the past few years that he can handle a more run-oriented program with the Steelers.

Adding icing to the Gailey resume is what observes say is his impeccable character, a far cry from the images of his two predecessors, Johnson and Switzer.

Gailey, who is said to drink very little alcohol and rarely swears, is deeply religious and family-oriented. He and his wife, Laurie, his childhood sweetheart who grew up around the corner from him in Americus, have two sons Tate, 21 and Andrew, 17. Tate attends Auburn, and Andrew is a high school senior.

"He's a great person." Reeves said. "He comes from a great family. His dad passed away last year. It's just a shame he wasn't here to see this, because he'd be thrilled to death."

Pete Hurt, an assistant to Gailey when he was head coach at Samford University in 1993, will never forget Gailey's unselfishness the day his son was born.

"He was there at the hospital when my son born," said Hurt, who succeeded Gailey at Samford and coached under him for three years. "He didn't have to be. And when I was doing a will, he said if anything happened to us, he would take care of my son. That's the type of person he is, a fine Christian man and very down to earth person."

Jones and Gailey also likely bonded over similar circumstances as well. Both have had to endure the loss of their father over the last year.

But providing the coup de grace was Gailey's stance that he is not bothered in the least by Jones' supposed meddling ways.

"Anybody who cares as much as Jerry is going to be involved with the team," Gailey said. "But I think that's a positive."

Obviously, Gailey, who has long aspired to be a head coach and who grew up a Cowboys fan because Reeves played for them, was easily sold on Jones and the Cowboys.

However, ad in the down-home Southern charm of this native Georgian, whose intense competitiveness is as obvious as his red hair, and it's no wonder the Arkansan in Jones has been charmed by Gailey as well.

Remember, four days after Jones met Gailey for the first time, he gave him the keys to his franchise.

Reeves said he's not surprised that Jones took such a quick liking to Gailey.

"He is honest, a hard worker, sincere and an intense competitor," Reeves said. "He really wants to win. All that comes across when you talk to him."

Hurt agreed.

"He is a very enthusiastic person," Hurt said. "And that's the way it is working for him. He has the ability to get everybody excited about doing their jobs. He is excited everyday. It comes across to people. His enthusiasm and sincerity in what he is trying to accomplish."

Yesterday, Gailey capped a mission he has seemingly worked for all of his life. The initial goal however, never aimed to go past the high school level.

"When I first realized I wanted to coach, I thought if I could coach high school somewhere I'd be tickled to death," Gailey said. "I had a great high school coach and thought, 'If I could just do that; that'd be great.' I've been blessed beyond what I deserve."

A little-used quarterback at Florida from 1970-73, Gailey described himself as player that was long on football smarts and short on ability. He got more time his senior year as a deep snapper than as a signal caller.

"I was a guy who played the entire game with his brain because I couldn't throw very well and couldn't run very fast," Gailey said. "Played four or five games my junior year, then the only way I could get on the plane my senior year was to the be the long snapper. I was the third quarterback and the long snapper."

What Gailey didn't say was that he became an instant terror on special teams, as this quarterback-turned-deep snapper was often the first man down the field to cover punts.

Rice coach Ken Hatfield, who coached Gailey in college at Florida, said he knew then that Gailey had what it took to be a successful coach.

"That told me right away how unselfish he was," Hatfield said. "I felt anybody that unselfish would be a great leader and a great coach."

Gailey began his coaching career as a defensive backfield coach at Troy State (1976-78). Hatfield then hired him at Air Force, where he spent four years, including the last two at defensive coordinator.

He returned to Troy State as head coach in 1983 and 1984. The 1984 team won the NCAA Division II national title and people in Troy, Alabama are still trying to figure out how the Tigers won it all with a 5-foot-7 quarterback, who could barely throw to spots at the beginning of the season.

Following the championship season, Reeves, then the Broncos coach, came through for a longtime friend. Reeves, who coached Gailey in a little league baseball while Reeves was in high school at Americus, hired him in 1985. Gailey coached the Denver's special teams, defense, tight ends and wide receivers and quarterbacks before he became the offensive coordinator from 1989-1990.

He left Denver to become head coach of Birmingham in the World League of American Football in 1991 and 1992, leading them to 5-5 and 7-2-1 records and consecutive playoff berths.

After the World League folded, Gailey stayed on Birmingham for a year and coached at Samford so his son Tate could graduate from high school. The call from Cowher and the Steelers came in 1994.

Cowher hired him in 1994 to coach his wide receivers. He became the offensive coordinator in 1996.

In the two years as the Steelers offensive coordinator, Gailey has helped create one of the league's most potent rushing attacks behind Jerome Bettis, while also being credited with unleashing multi-talented quarterback Kordell Stewart.

As a result, Gailey, a former wishbone guy at Troy State, has come full circle. Cowher said Jones couldn't have made a better choice.

"Chan is a very innovative guy," Cowher said. "I think Chan's great quality - and some people have looked at him as a passing guy and obviously here as a running guy - I think what he can do is take the strengths of a football team and put the players in a situation where they can succeed."

Though he understands that Jones will always be very involved with the franchise, Hatfield doesn't believe "Jerry will get in Chan's way" because Gailey brings a measure of credibility that Switzer didn't.

"Chan has credibility with players and with people in the league," Hatfield said. "He has been in the league. He coached a young quarterback and made him into one of the best. I don't think Barry had that from sitting out of football. It's not Barry's fault, but it gave the media something to latch on to. They won't have that with Chan, he has been actively involved and very successful in the league."

How successful he'll be as the Cowboys next coach is not yet known. What is certain after yesterday's announcement is that Gailey is anonymous no more.

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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