Dolphins bring 67-year-old Chan Gailey out of retirement to be offensive coordinator, per reports

Brian Flores is wasting no time filling his offensive coordinator position, bringing Chan Gailey out of retirement and back to the Dolphins just one day after firing Chad O’Shea, according to multiple reports Tuesday morning.

Gailey, who turns 68 Sunday, was the Dolphins’ offensive coordinator in 2000-01. More importantly, he has spent five seasons with Ryan Fitzpatrick either as his head coach or coordinator, raising the possibility that the Dolphins might be content with their reigning team MVP as their quarterback again in 2020.

Gailey has twice served as a head coach, with the Dallas Cowboys from 1998-99 and the Buffalo Bills in 2010-12. He has a career record of 34-46, with his best year being his first season in Dallas when he went 10-6 and reached the playoffs.

The arrival of Gailey puts an onus on the Dolphins to drastically upgrade their running backs because he prefers a run-first, play-action style. The Dolphins just set a team record for fewest rushing yards in a season, 1,156. Fitzpatrick’s 243 rushing yards led the 2019 Dolphins, marking the first time a quarterback led them in rushing.

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Fitzpatrick also has enjoyed his best success under Gailey. In 2015, the Jets went 10-6 as Fitzpatrick had 31 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. Gailey served as offensive coordinator that season.

In November, Fitzpatrick discussed his knack for anticipating when receivers were about to get open, crediting that in part to his time under Gailey.

“I think it’s something that happens over time. I think for me to get drafted in St. Louis and for my first offseason to be in Mike Martz’s offense, which is all about anticipation and getting the ball out,” Fitzpatrick said. “Then later on in my career and playing with Chan and how important that was in Chan’s offense, I think I’ve just grown and continued to get better at it. That’s something that can definitely be taught but something that takes a lot of time to get comfortable with. I do enjoy that. I pride myself on anticipation but sometimes if a defender anticipates it as well as I do, then it doesn’t turn out so well.”

As offensive coordinator under Dave Wannstedt in 2000, Gailey orchestrated an offense that helped the Dolphins record their most recent playoff victory, an overtime triumph over the Colts in a wild-card game. Those Dolphins were led by running back Lamar Smith, who ran for 1,139 yards.

That Dolphins team ranked 26th in offense and 16th in scoring. The next year, Gailey’s offense was 21st overall and eighth in scoring.

In both years in Miami, the Dolphins were conservative, as per Wannstedt’s style. The Dolphins were 31st and 29th in passing attempts those seasons but had the eighth-most rushing attempts each year.

Gailey’s highest-rated offense was in 1997 in Pittsburgh, when it was sixth overall and seventh in scoring. Gailey has never led an offense that finished in the top five in scoring, counting both his seasons as a head coach or a coordinator. But the 1997 Steelers led the NFL in rushing thanks to Jerome Bettis and his 1,665 yards.

Gailey has been out of the NFL the past three seasons.