Chan Gailey suffers heart attack

[AdamJT13]

Georgia Tech coach suffers heart attack; undergoes angioplasty

By PAUL NEWBERRY

AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA — Georgia Tech football coach Chan Gailey suffered a heart attack Monday while playing racquetball at the campus recreation center.

Gailey was taken to Piedmont Hospital after experiencing chest pains. He underwent a balloon angioplasty, a procedure that is used to clear a blocked artery, spokeswoman Allison George said.

“He’s expected to be in the hospital three or four days,” she said. “He will make a complete recovery.”

George was not aware of Gailey having any previous heart problems. The coach turned 53 in January.

Gailey did not want the school to release any information about the extent of his blockage or how many arteries were affected.

Gailey, entering his fourth season as Georgia Tech’s coach, has a record of 21-17 and has guided the Yellow Jackets to three straight bowl appearances, extending the school-record streak to eight years in a row.

This is considered a critical year for Gailey, who has been criticized for failing to match the success of his predecessor, George O’Leary. The Yellow Jackets have yet to win more than seven games in a season after eclipsing that total during the last four years of O’Leary’s tenure.

Georgia Tech began spring practice last week with much of the attention focused on the quarterback position, where junior-to-be Reggie Ball is fighting to keep his job.

Gailey previously coached the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons, leading the team to an NFC East championship and consecutive playoff appearances. Despite that success, he was fired by owner Jerry Jones.

Gailey also worked as an assistant with the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins. He was a head coach at Samford and Troy State and served a one-year stint in the same position with the Birmingham Fire of the ill-fated World League of American Football.

[dbair1967]

wow sorry to hear that...hope everything goes fine for him...

good guy/person but an awful head coach

David

[Champsheart]

Georgia Tech coach suffers heart attack; undergoes angioplasty

By PAUL NEWBERRY

AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA — Georgia Tech football coach Chan Gailey suffered a heart attack Monday while playing racquetball at the campus recreation center.

Gailey was taken to Piedmont Hospital after experiencing chest pains. He underwent a balloon angioplasty, a procedure that is used to clear a blocked artery, spokeswoman Allison George said.

“He’s expected to be in the hospital three or four days,” she said. “He will make a complete recovery.”

George was not aware of Gailey having any previous heart problems. The coach turned 53 in January.

Gailey did not want the school to release any information about the extent of his blockage or how many arteries were affected.

Gailey, entering his fourth season as Georgia Tech’s coach, has a record of 21-17 and has guided the Yellow Jackets to three straight bowl appearances, extending the school-record streak to eight years in a row.

This is considered a critical year for Gailey, who has been criticized for failing to match the success of his predecessor, George O’Leary. The Yellow Jackets have yet to win more than seven games in a season after eclipsing that total during the last four years of O’Leary’s tenure.

Georgia Tech began spring practice last week with much of the attention focused on the quarterback position, where junior-to-be Reggie Ball is fighting to keep his job.

Gailey previously coached the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons, leading the team to an NFC East championship and consecutive playoff appearances. Despite that success, he was fired by owner Jerry Jones.

Gailey also worked as an assistant with the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins. He was a head coach at Samford and Troy State and served a one-year stint in the same position with the Birmingham Fire of the ill-fated World League of American Football.

Very good to hear he will make a full recovery! :)

[Tobal]

Best Wishes

[BrAinPaiNt]

Best Wishes to him and his family.

[calico]

My prayers go to him.

[Tricky-22]

I wish him and his family well, and will keep them in my prayers.

[jamez25]

get well soon Coach Gailey !

[jcblanco22]

Underrated as a Cowboys coach IMHO. Kind of shocking to hear the news but I am very glad he will be okay. I had noticed while watching him in an early season GA Tech game last year that he had gained a considerable amount of weight.

[TruBlueCowboy]

I hope he gets better. If Irvin hadn't gone out that year, I think Gailey would have made it another year.

[jcblanco22]

I hope he gets better. If Irvin hadn't gone out that year, I think Gailey would have made it another year.

Not only made it another year, I think we would've made it all the way to the NFC Championship against the Rams in '99 had Irvin and McKnight been healthy. Emmitt had quite an excellent season that year.

[JackMagist]

Chan Gailey is a good guy. I hope he will be fine and get on with his coaching career and be successful. Too bad he didn't have what it takes to be a HC in the Pros but that doesn't mean he can't get it done in the College Ranks.

[jksmith269]

My prayers are with Chan........

[SA_Gunslinger]

i hope he turns out ok...i always liked chan!

[VThokie7]

My prayers go out to him, best wishes

[Chief]

This is a wonderful man. While I think he did well as coach of the Cowboys and thought he got a bum rap, I'm even more impressed with him as a person.

I hope he recovers quickly. Thoughts and prayers to him and his super wife, Laurie.

[jcblanco22]

This is a wonderful man. While I think he did well as coach of the Cowboys and thought he got a bum rap, I'm even more impressed with him as a person.

I hope he recovers quickly. Thoughts and prayers to him and his super wife, Laurie.

Beautifully stated Chief. I too am quite partial to Gailey and have always heard very positive things about him as a person also.

I'm curious, the tone/wording of your message almost speaks of a personal connection. Do you by chance know him and his wife?

[heavyg]

My prayers go to him and his family.

[jem88]

Hey I'm glad to hear he'll be alright. Can't agree with people saying he was a good coach...we can save that for another thread though.

[Big Country]

I personally think he was the guy who gave Emmitt that last burst of production when he came came on board... Emmitt was coming off a horrible year, (for Emmitt anyway, which was just a tad over 1000 in 1996), little injuries were starting to mount up and they brought in Chris Warren in 1997... That lit Emmitt's fire and he continued to shine of course for a few years more...
Our prayers to Chan and his family... we'll be thinking about you.

[jcblanco22]

I personally think he was the guy who gave Emmitt that last burst of production when he came came on board... Emmitt was coming off a horrible year, (for Emmitt anyway, which was just a tad over 1000 in 1996), little injuries were starting to mount up and they brought in Chris Warren in 1997... That lit Emmitt's fire and he continued to shine of course for a few years more...
Our prayers to Chan and his family... we'll be thinking about you.

Aardvark, it was about 1200 for Emmitt in '96, but yes, it took until the last game of the season against the Bengals for him to reach 1,021 in '97. The gnashing of teeth about him being finished was never louder, but Chan's emphasis on the run and the OL getting fixed a bit helped him to very nice seasons in Gailey's two years here. In '99 he essentially had 1400 (1397 to be exact) and he could've hit 1600 or more had he not missed 2 1/2 games that year.

[Banned_n_austin]

I was one of the guys that actually liked Chan. . .

God - please send my prayers to Mr. Gailey.

:pray2:

[Banned_n_austin]

wow sorry to hear that...hope everything goes fine for him...

good guy/person but an awful head coach

David


Just out of curiousity. . .Who do you think would be a good coach for the Cowboys?

I don't want to hear the obvious answer either - Bellicheck.

Someone who could realistically be the coach. It can't be somebody who already has a job. . .

Convince me that there are better options out there than Bill Parcells.

[2233boys]

Get well and God bless Chan, your in our thouhgts and prayers

[Cbz40]

This is a wonderful man. While I think he did well as coach of the Cowboys and thought he got a bum rap, I'm even more impressed with him as a person.

I hope he recovers quickly. Thoughts and prayers to him and his super wife, Laurie.


Can't say it any better than that.

[Fletch]

Best wishes to Chan and his family. Get well soon!

[jcblanco22]

From www.coachgailey.com:

Emmitt Smith, Running Back, Dallas Cowboys:

"Chan Gailey is a very good football coach. He is also an outstanding person.

"From a football perspective, he taught me some things about the running game that I did not know, and he helped my career. He knows how to move the chains and control the tempo of a football game. He knows how to score points, and he knows how to win.

"Away from the field, he is a great person - about as solid a man as you are going to meet. He will have success at Georgia Tech, and I will be pulling for him."

[RW Hitman]

Chan is a good guy, best wishes, and my prayers go out to him and his family...

[Hostile]

This is a wonderful man. While I think he did well as coach of the Cowboys and thought he got a bum rap, I'm even more impressed with him as a person.

I hope he recovers quickly. Thoughts and prayers to him and his super wife, Laurie.My goodness. Not sure how I missed this topic. I add my wishes to what Chief said here.

[Cajuncowboy]

God Bless ya Coach. Our prayers are with you.

[DallasEast]

I wasn't a big Gailey fan, but I do wish him a very speedy recovery. Get well soon, Coach.

[Jon88]

If only he had learned to finish teams off in the second half...

I hope he gets well soon.

[LoneStar22]

Gaily was a good guy a stand up man and I still believe part of the process we needed to take at the time.....here's to a speedy recovery for Mr. Chan Gaily my thoughts are with him for the best, he's a good man....on a side note, drink more Burbon.

[DWAREZ]

My prayers go out to him, best wishes

Me too...hope the best for Chan

[jem88]

I personally think he was the guy who gave Emmitt that last burst of production when he came came on board... Emmitt was coming off a horrible year, (for Emmitt anyway, which was just a tad over 1000 in 1996), little injuries were starting to mount up and they brought in Chris Warren in 1997... That lit Emmitt's fire and he continued to shine of course for a few years more...
You may be right but I also don't think David Lafleur gets enough credit for helping revitalize Emmitt. That guy was a serious blocker.