Recently I sat down with Chan Gailey, a 32-year football coaching veteran, including 16 seasons in the college ranks and 16 years in professional football. Chan is currently the head football coach for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the most recent former coach for two of the newest Ravens, P.J. Daniels and Dawan Landry.
TL: Chan two of the Ravens’ needs going into the 2006 NFL Draft were a change of pace back to try and fill the void left by the departing Chester Taylor and a safety to play beside Ed Reed. The Ravens hope they satisfied those needs with two of your former players P.J. Daniels and Dawan Landry. Let’s talk about each…
Let’s start with P.J. Looking at this objectively and knowing what you do about the NFL, tell us how you project P.J. at the next level.
CG: First of all, you are going to find that they don’t come any tougher than P.J. P.J. is a tough back and one of the reasons he has been banged up in his career, is because he does play so physical. He is a hard runner. He can go and get it. If you need 4 yards, he’ll get 5. If you need 7 he can get 8. He’s one of those kind of guys. He very seldom will break the 80 yarder or the 70 yarder for you. He doesn’t have that kind of speed but he does have great instincts with the ball in his hand. I think the one thing that people [in Baltimore] will be very pleased with is if you’ve got nothing better to do other than watch the ball, watch him pass protect! You’ve got one of the best pass protectors around.
TL: That was one of the things missing from the Ravens game last year, particularly early on.
CG: He’ll be one of the best. Just you wait and see.
TL: Chan talk about his style of running. Compare his style to someone in the NFL given your experiences.
CG: He is a power runner. He’s not a nifty jitterbug side to side guy. He is a pick a hole, get north and south, lower your shoulder spin move kind of back. He will not be in the Warrick Dunn category. He’ll be more like a guy that is there now, Mike Anderson. He is more in that mold – a powerful thick hipped, thick thighed running back that can run through tackles. He is what I would call your typical north/south runner.
TL: From what I’ve heard, P.J. carries the reputation of being a very coachable ball player.
CG: Yes. He came in as a walk on for us. He returned kickoffs to start his career. He’ll do it like you want it done. If you say take this step, he’ll take that step. If you say go here, he’ll go here. If you say go there, he’ll go there. He is a very coachable player.
TL: Now he came off an injury in 2004, injuring his ACL if I’m not mistaken.
CG: He may have tweaked his knee a little bit but he never had surgery.
TL: He missed 4 or 5 games in 2004?
CG: He had a banged up knee for a little while, an ankle problem for a little while and then I think at the end of the year he may have tweaked his hamstring.
TL: How did he respond in 2005?
CG: Pretty good. He may have missed part of a couple of games but nothing major. He ended up finishing the season for us. In 2003 he led the ACC in rushing for us. He did a great job. And our line, we’ve been rebuilding our line for basically two years and he paid the price for it somewhat. Because when he had that experience in the line in front of him as he did as a sophomore, he made some great yardage and had some great stats. This year he was healthier than he was the previous year.
TL: It’s interesting that you bring those points up about the offensive line because given those circumstances it is hard to project a back into the NFL.
CG: That’s exactly right!
TL: The Ravens have had issues with health and continuity on the offensive line. From an offensive coach’s perspective, talk about the importance of continuity on the offensive line.
CG: Of all the positions in football, that group has to have the best continuity and the best consistency. If they can stay together and you have a crew of intelligent football players, you will win a lot of football games. And I’ve been through a lot of different scenarios in my coaching. I’ve had good lines, I’ve had bad lines, I’ve had banged up lines and healthy lines.
You know the other thing is a commitment to running the football. It sounds like the Ravens in years past have had that commitment and I think your linemen realize there’s a level of expectation for that football team. The last 10 years that I’ve been a head coach or a coordinator, the tailback has rushed for 1,500. So there’s got to be a commitment to that and I think if you can keep that line together, that’s when that number jumps to 2,000 and 2,100 yards.
TL: Chan, another of your former players who is now a Raven is Dawan Landry. Dawan is a tough competitor with a high motor so he’ll fit in well with the Ravens. He provides excellent run support and is a high character guy. The down side is that he’s not such a great cover guy. Talk about Dawan and how you see him in the NFL and what Ravens’ fans can expect from him.
CG: In my opinion there is no question that Dawan will make it on the football team up there. I have never seen a guy with more passion for the game. I’m telling you, this guy goes out there passionately to be the best he can be every day. He is a phenomenal athlete as far as his size and speed and quickness and change of direction – he’s an exceptional athlete. The only thing that kept him from going higher in the draft is that he doesn’t cover the deep pass one on one as well as you would like.
But you are talking about a hybrid guy who can run support, can almost play linebacker, can play a great strong safety for you…he’s in the [John] Lynch mode. That’s who he is. That’s who I liken him to in the NFL.
TL: And that would be something that Ravens fans could identify with and something that the Ravens defense has been missing – that prototypical thumper coming up from the strong safety position. Since the Marvin Lewis days, the Ravens really haven’t been a team that clearly defines strong and free safety. They simply look for players that can both support the run and cover the slot receivers but given his work ethic, it sounds as though Dawan Landry will do whatever it takes to properly shape his game for the NFL.
CG: If passion has anything to do with it which we all know it does, he’ll be right there in the mix. There is no question in my mind.
TL: Chan, last question. You coached in Dallas and had your fair share of experiences there both good and bad. There will be more drama in the Big D this year as Terrell Owens brings his baggage to town. Here’s a player who mocked the Dallas Star. How do you see Cowboys’ fans embracing T.O.?
CG: Oil and water. (chuckles) It won’t mix.
TL: It’s not going to happen?
CG: It’s not going to happen.
TL: Talk about Bill Parcells and Terrell Owens.
CG: Boy I don’t know. I think that’s interesting. If Terrell toes the line, Bill will be fine with him. But Bill is not going to put up with any junk and if Terrell tries to be his own guy, well that’s another oil and water situation. It’s not going to happen.
