Chan Gailey
Chan Gailey went 68–43 as a head coach, 1983–2007, at Troy State, Samford and Georgia Tech. Share
Three seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1983–84 at Troy State; 1993 at Samford. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 68–43 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2006 9–5
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Troy State * | 7–4 | T–2nd | |||
| 1984 | Troy State * | 12–1 | 1st | NCAA Division II Championship W | ||
| 1985–92: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1993 | Samford * | 5–6 | ||||
| 1994–01: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2002 | Georgia Tech | 7–6 | T–5th | Silicon Valley Football Classic L | ||
| 2003 | Georgia Tech | 7–6 | T–4th | Humanitarian Bowl W | ||
| 2004 | Georgia Tech | 7–5 | T–6th | Champs Sports Bowl W | ||
| 2005 | Georgia Tech | 7–5 | 3rd (Coastal) | Emerald Bowl L | ||
| 2006 | Georgia Tech | 9–5 | 1st (Coastal) | Gator Bowl L | ||
| 2007 | Georgia Tech | 7–5 | 3rd (Coastal) | Humanitarian (not coached) | ||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Durant Brooks2007 Ray Guy Award
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 25 | 8–17 | 32% |
| Against top-10 teams | 10 | 2–8 | 20% |
| Against rivals | 26 | 13–13 | 50% |
| Conference games | 48 | 28–20 | 58% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 5 | 2–3 | 40% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 29 | 16–13 | 55% |
| At home | 38 | 25–13 | 66% |
| On the road | 32 | 17–15 | 53% |
| At neutral sites | 6 | 2–4 | 33% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 42 | 30–12 | 71% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 34 | 14–20 | 41% |
His own 76 games on file, 2002–2007, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy Bowden 2002–2007 | 3–3 | Clemson | 6 | |
| Al Groh 2002–2007 | 2–4 | Virginia | 6 | |
| Mark Richt 2002–2007 | 0–6 | Georgia | 6 | |
| Chuck Amato 2002–2006 | 4–1 | NC State | 5 | |
| John Bunting 2002–2006 | 4–1 | North Carolina | 5 | |
| Ted Roof 2003–2007 | 4–1 | Duke | 5 | |
| Ralph Friedgen 2002–2007 | 3–2 | Maryland | 5 | |
| Jim Grobe 2002–2006 | 2–2 | Wake Forest | 4 | |
| Frank Beamer 2004–2007 | 1–3 | Virginia Tech | 4 | |
| Randy Edsall 2002–2005 | 3–0 | UConn | 3 |
Chan Gailey’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Dukeseries | 6 | 5–1 |
| North Carolinaseries | 6 | 5–1 |
| Clemsonseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Virginiaseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Georgiaseries | 6 | 0–6 |
| NC Stateseries | 5 | 4–1 |
| Marylandseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Miamiseries | 4 | 3–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974–75 | Florida | Graduate assistant | |
| 1976–78 | Troy State | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1979–80 | Air Force | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1981–82 | Air Force | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1983–84 | Troy State | Head coach | |
| 1985–86 | Denver Broncos NFL | Tight ends and special teams coach | |
| 1987 | Denver Broncos NFL | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| 1988 | Denver Broncos NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 1989–90 | Denver Broncos NFL | Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach | |
| 1991–92 | Birmingham Fire NFL Europe | Head coach | |
| 1993 | Samford | Head coach | |
| 1994–95 | Pittsburgh Steelers NFL | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1996–97 | Pittsburgh Steelers NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1998–99 | Dallas Cowboys NFL | Head coach | |
| 2000–01 | Miami Dolphins NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2002–07 | Georgia Tech | Head coach | |
| 2008 | Kansas City Chiefs NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2010–12 | Buffalo Bills NFL | Head coach | |
| 2015–16 | New York Jets NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2020 | Miami Dolphins NFL | Offensive coordinator |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Doug DickeyFlorida
- Charley BradshawTroy
- Ken HatfieldAir Force
- Dave WannstedtMiami Dolphins
- Herm EdwardsKansas City Chiefs
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jeff McInerneyCentral Connecticut
- Rick RhoadesTroy, Southern Illinois, Nicholls, Delta State
- Willie J. SlaterTuskegee, Clark Atlanta
- Dave CampoDallas Cowboys
- Dwain PainterNorthern Arizona
- Jim BatesSan Antonio Gunslingers
- Joe AvezzanoOregon State, Dallas Desperados
- Les MilesOklahoma State, LSU, Kansas
- Bill O’BrienPenn State, Boston College, Houston Texans
- Brent KeyGeorgia Tech
- Glenn SpencerWest Georgia
- Jon TenutaGeorgia Tech
- and 8 more
Worked under (5)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Dickey | Florida | 1974–75 | Graduate assistant | |
| Charley Bradshaw | Troy | 1976–78 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Ken Hatfield | Air Force | 1979–82 | 1979–80: defensive backs coach; 1981–82: defensive coordinator | |
| Dave Wannstedt | Miami Dolphins NFL | 2000–01 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Herm Edwards | Kansas City Chiefs NFL | 2008 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (20)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff McInerney | Troy, 1983–84: linebackers coach | Central Connecticut | |
| Rick Rhoades | Troy, 1983–84: defensive coordinator | Troy, Southern Illinois, Nicholls, Delta State | |
| Willie J. Slater | Troy, 1983–84: offensive coordinator and running backs and quarterbacks coach | Tuskegee, Clark Atlanta | |
| Dave Campo | Dallas Cowboys, 1998–99: defensive coordinator | Dallas Cowboys | |
| Dwain Painter | Dallas Cowboys, 1998–99: wide receivers coach | Northern Arizona | |
| Jim Bates | Dallas Cowboys, 1998–99: defensive line coach | San Antonio Gunslingers | |
| Joe Avezzano | Dallas Cowboys, 1998–99: special teams coach | Oregon State, Dallas Desperados | |
| Les Miles | Dallas Cowboys, 1998–99: tight ends coach | Oklahoma State, LSU, Kansas | |
| Bill O’Brien | Georgia Tech, 2002: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Penn State, Boston College, Houston Texans | |
| Brent Key | Georgia Tech, 2002: graduate assistant | Georgia Tech | |
| Glenn Spencer | Georgia Tech, 2002–03: defensive line coach | West Georgia | |
| Jon Tenuta | Georgia Tech, 2002–07: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | Georgia Tech | |
| Patrick Nix | Georgia Tech, 2002–06: running backs and quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator | Henderson State | |
| Charles Kelly | Georgia Tech, 2006–07: special teams coach | Jacksonville State | |
| Geoff Collins | Georgia Tech, 2006: recruiting coordinator | Temple, Georgia Tech | |
| Daryl Daye | Buffalo Bills, 2010–11: assistant to head coach | Nicholls, Missouri Southern | |
| George Cortez | Buffalo Bills, 2010–11: quality control coach | Calgary Stampeders (SC), Hamilton Tiger-Cats | |
| Dave Wannstedt | Buffalo Bills, 2011–12: assistant head coach and linebackers coach; 2012: defensive coordinator | Pittsburgh, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins | |
| Charles Huff | Buffalo Bills, 2012: assistant running backs | Marshall, Southern Miss, Memphis | |
| David Lee | Buffalo Bills, 2012: quarterbacks coach | UTEP |
Other assistants under him (9)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Joe D’Alessandris | Birmingham Fire, 1991–92: offensive line coach; Samford, 1993: offensive line coach and assistant head coach; Georgia Tech, 2002–07: offensive line coach; Buffalo Bills, 2010–12: offensive line coach | |
| Clancy Pendergast | Dallas Cowboys, 1998–99: defensive quality control coach | |
| Brick Haley | Georgia Tech, 2002–03: linebackers coach | |
| Buddy Geis | Georgia Tech, 2003: co-offensive coordinator | |
| Nathan Burton | Georgia Tech, 2005–07: graduate assistant | |
| John Bond | Georgia Tech, 2007: offensive coordinator | |
| Bob Sanders | Buffalo Bills, 2010–11: outside linebackers coach; 2012: linebackers coach | |
| DeMontie Cross | Buffalo Bills, 2010: assistant coach | |
| William Inge | Buffalo Bills, 2012: assistant defensive line |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Georgia Tech | head coachbonuses up to $260,000 | $1,039,347 USA Today via Leeds | |
| 2006 | Georgia Tech | head coachbonuses up to $260,000 | $1,009,191 USA Today via Leeds |
The same USA Today database for 2006–16, from Michael Leeds’ replication data on Harvard Dataverse (CC0): the season’s contract pay.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Gailey’s teams went for it on 13% of fourth downs and on 27% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 45% of plays and took 25.4 seconds a play, 2004–2007.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 12 g | 14 of 106 13% | 28% | 45% | 24.1 | −0.16 | |
| 2005 12 g | 13 of 120 11% | 20% | 49% | 24.8 | −0.13 | |
| 2006 12 g | 10 of 94 11% | 22% | 44% | 27.3 | −0.10 | |
| 2007 13 g | 17 of 106 16% | 41% | 42% | 25.4 | −0.07 | |
| All 49 g | 54 of 426 13% | 27% | 45% | 25.4 | −0.11 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.