As Nix said -- and we should hold him to this -- you have to win football games. So we need to withhold final judgment until the whistle blows.
But, I would argue that this hire is honest in many ways. Gailey, at least for now, may be a good fit for the team we have, if not for the team we wish we had.
We have real weaknesses in our line and our QB. We have a young team. We made too many thoughtless mistakes, especially with penalties. We need, as Nix said, a coach who can teach and develop talent. The Bills are not yet a playoff team, but we have the talent at some spots to get there soon. Nix, I sense, knows our problems, and he is hiring a staff of teachers and discilplinarians, rather than innovators. Think Lombardi, not Leach.
First, Gailey possesses many of the qualities Nix said he wanted in a coach at his first presser. That tells me Nix is a man of his word, and that he chooses his words carefully. The good ole' boy, aw shucks stuff masks a canny mind.
Second, all of us on the Board know we need someone who can fix our QB problem. Gailey has done that in the past. He is obviously a teacher.
Third, he wants to run the ball, which is also something everyone on this board demands.
Fourth, he went out of his way to mention character, and how the players behave on and off the field. The Bills, thankfully, have not had the nightmares of other teams on this issue, but we do have problems. The Board has been very vocal about that, and I am impressed he feels it is part of a coach's job to work on that.
Again, he needs to win games. For now, though, I am sold.