ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Former University of West Alabama football player and UWA Hall of Fame member Buddy Nix made his first hire as the new Buffalo Bills General Manager recently bringing Chan Gailey in as the new head coach of the Bills.
The Gailey hire is the first for the former Livingston State College graduate after being promoted to his new position with the Bills. Gailey becomes the 15th coach in Bills history and was formerly head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Dallas Cowboys.
Nix, who recently became the 11th General Manager in Bills history, was promoted to GM only 11 months after rejoining the organization as a national scout. This marks Nix second stint with the Bills, after serving the organization as a southeast region college scout from 1993-2000.
Prior rejoining the Bills, Nix served seven seasons with the San Diego Chargers as Director of Player Personnel from 2001-2002, and then as the Assistant General Manager-Director of Player Personnel from 2003-2007. The Chargers were 1-15 the year prior to Nix arrival, and then made the playoffs four times between 2001 and 2008 while capturing the AFC West title four times between 2004 and 2008. San Diego advanced to the AFC Championship game in 2007.
Nix was a fullback and linebacker for West Alabama from 1957-1961. He was twice named All-Conference and was president of the L-Club his senior year. Nix was a graduate assistant football coach on the University of Alabama's 1961 National Championship team before spending eight years as a high school coach. In 1969 Nix served as the secondary coach at Carson Newman before returning to UWA as defensive coordinator in 1970 and 1971, as he helped lead the Tigers to the 1971 NAIA National Championship.
From 1984-92, The Carbon Hill, Ala.-native was the head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Before his nine seasons at UTC, his collegiate coaching career included assistant positions at LSU, Auburn and Southern Mississippi. Nix also held coaching positions at Anniston and Eufaula High Schools and Jonesboro High School in Georgia.
