Saturday, February 14, 1998

Gailey: From one long shadow to another

By ALAN ROBINSON AP Sports Writer

Chan Gailey shouldn't have any problem working under a demanding, high-profile boss in Dallas. He did the same thing in Pittsburgh, albeit with far less media scrutiny than he will command now.

Gailey, the surprise choice Thursday to become the fourth coach in Dallas Cowboys history, developed a strong ground game and groomed a young but unsteady Kordell Stewart as quarterback in two years as the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive coordinator.

But his biggest asset may have been his ability to work successfully with strong-willed Pittsburgh head coach Bill Cowher, who has a reputation as sometimes being difficult to work for.

In Dallas, it will be just as essential for Gailey to have just such a capability to work with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has his hand on every single aspect of the organization, from the dining room menu at Valley Ranch to the defense.

"I'm happy for Chan. People will find out soon enough that he is a good coach," Cowher said Thursday.

Cowher already has had three defensive coordinators in six years - Dom Capers, Dick LeBeau, and now, Jim Haslett - and his next offensive coordinator will also be his third, following Ron Erhardt and Gailey.

"The Steelers' offense won't miss a beat without me," Gailey said Thursday. "Losing me is like losing free agents in the past. They will find somebody. They will continue to build."

Gailey, 46, a former small college and World League coach who often wore cowboy boots to work and possesses a southern drawl, generally got high marks for his work with the Steelers' offense.

Under Gailey, Jerome Bettis - a St. Louis Rams castoff - rushed for more than 3,000 yards the last two seasons in an offense built around the run. More significantly, the Steelers won 23 games in 1996 and 1997 despite starting Mike Tomczak, a career backup, and Stewart, who is skilled but unpolished, at quarterback.

Gailey didn't hesitate last season to make Stewart an essential element of the offense, not just a complementary piece to Bettis. In fact, Gailey's confidence in Stewart's playmaking and leadership might have contributed to the three critical interceptions - two into double coverage - Stewart threw in a 24-21 AFC championship game loss to eventual Super Bowl champion Denver.

"There's some things we did well and some things we didn't do well and I'd rather leave it at that," Gailey said a day after the Steelers' second AFC championship game loss in four years.

At the time, the Steelers were more concerned with possibly losing director of football operations Tom Donahoe to the Seattle Seahawks than they were any of their assistant coaches, all of whom were under contract.

But, as it turned out, the only one who left was Gailey.

Gailey professed to owning NFL head coaching ambitions two years ago, just before being hired to replace Erhardt following the Steelers' Super Bowl loss to Dallas. At the time, the New York Jets requested permission to talk to Gailey about their offensive coordinator's position.

But once Cowher promoted Gailey, the Jets hired Erhardt instead. Erhardt recently retired.

"In this business, you might never get the opportunity to move up to the next level," Gailey said. "I'd like to be a head coach someday and this is the next step."

Now, he's taken the biggest step of all - right into another long shadow. Not that he isn't used to it.