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New York Jets Welcome QB Guru Chan Gailey as Offensive Coordinator

By Chris Malumphy

Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) tweeted that "QBs Chan Gailey has been an OC for ALL had best statistical years under him." Having nothing better to do, I checked the facts.

As offensive coordinator, Chan Gailey has never had a quarterback who was very good. Nevertheless, the teams he served in that role put up some pretty good records with the Steelers winning 10 games in 1996 and 11 in 1997 with the likes of Mike Tomczak and Kordell Stewart behind center. In both 2000 and 2001, the Dolphins went 11-5 with Jay Fiedler at quarterback. In 2008, the Chiefs were a miserable 2-14, but Tyler Thigpen threw 18 touchdowns and had only 12 interceptions and was never to be heard from again.

As a head coach, Gailey had somewhat better quarterbacks to work with. The Cowboys won 10 games in 1998 with Troy Aikman and Jason Garrett at quarterback. Aikman then led Dallas to an 8-8 record in 1999 when injuries continued to mount and his career was nearly over. Ryan Fitzgerald quarterbacked the Bills to 4-12, 6-10 and 6-10 records for the Gailey coached teams of 2010-2012.

The best quarterback rating achieved on a team where Chan Gailey was the head coach or the offensive coordinator was Troy Aikman's injury plagued 88.5 in 1998. None of his QBs ever threw 25 touchdown passes in a season. Gailey coached teams only had one season where a quarterback passed for as many as 3,500 yards: Ryan Fitzgerald's 3,832 in 2011. Then again, Chan Gailey's quarterbacks don't get sacked much. Worst was the 30 sacks taken by Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2012.

So, while the quarterback statistics put up by Gailey coached teams hasn't been very awe-inspiring, Gailey probably got more out of his quarterbacks than most other coaches would have. It's a shame that the only above average quarterback he ever coached in the pros was Troy Aikman, at the end of his career when he was often injured. Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, Jay Fiedler, Tyler Thigpen, Jason Garrett and even Ryan Fitzpatrick wouldn't scare many defenses with their passing prowess. Sad thing for Gailey is that in going to the New York Jets, he is once again saddled with what appears to be sub par talent at the most key of all positions. Now we'll see if Geno Smith passes muster.

Statistics for Quarterbacks when Chan Gailey was Head Coach
Year Team Name Att Comp Pct Yds Avg TD TD Pct Int Int Pct Sacked QB Rating Team Record
1998CowboysTroy Aikman31518759.423307.4123.851.6988.510-8
Jason Garrett1589157.612067.653.231.91084.5
1999CowboysTroy Aikman44226359.529646.7173.8122.71981.18-8
2010BillsRyan Fitzpatrick44125557.830006.8235.2153.42481.84-12
2011BillsRyan Fitzpatrick56935362.038326.7244.2234.02279.16-10
2012BillsRyan Fitzpatrick50530660.634006.7244.8163.23083.36-10

Statistics for Quarterbacks when Chan Gailey was Offensive Coordinator
Year Team Name Att Comp Pct Yds Avg TD TD Pct Int Int Pct Sacked QB Rating Team Record
1996SteelersMike Tomczak40122255.427676.9153.7174.21671.810-6
1997SteelersKordell Stewart44023653.630206.9214.8173.92075.211-5
2000DolphinsJay Fiedler35720457.124026.7143.9143.92374.511-5
2001DolphinsJay Fiedler45027360.732907.3204.4194.22780.311-5
2008ChiefsTyler Thigpen42023054.826086.2184.3122.92676.02-14