ORCHARD PARK, NY - The Buffalo Bills today announced that David Lee has agreed to become the team's new quarterbacks coach. He is expected to sign a contract next week to officially join head coach Chan Gailey's staff.
"We were very pleased that we could hire David Lee to be our quarterbacks coach," Gailey said. "He is very well-respected as a technician and a teacher of quarterbacks. He brings a wealth of experience -- having done a lot of different types of offenses, as well as the traditional pro-style offense."
Lee said, "I'm excited and proud to be the Bills' quarterback coach. Chan Gailey has been a successful head coach everywhere he's been. His teams have always moved the football really well. Being able to coach under him was the difference in my decision to come to Buffalo."
Lee brings 37 years of coaching experience, including seven years at the NFL level, to Buffalo. He returns to the NFL ranks after serving as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Ole Miss in 2011.
As the Miami Dolphins' quarterbacks coach from 2008-10, Lee guided Chad Pennington (2008) and Chad Henne (2010) to 3,000-yard passing campaigns. Current Bills QB Tyler Thigpen played under Lee during the 2010 season in Miami and threw for 435 yards with two touchdowns on 33-of-62 passing in five games played.
Lee's first stint in the NFL came with the Dallas Cowboys as the team's offensive quality control coach from 2003-06 and added quarterback responsibilities in 2005. In his four years with Dallas, three different signal callers reached the 3,000-yard plateau in a single-season.
The knock on Lee is that throughout his career he has never really developed a quarterback. With the exception of Chad Pennington many quarterbacks under Lee have had a history of struggling to read defenses and throwing too many interceptions.
Lee has spend much more time in the collegiate ranks than in the NFL. In the NCAA he used gimmicks and relied on the run. He did introduce the Wildcat to the NFL and won innovation of the year. That could be great news for Brad Smith who signed with the Bills as a free agent before the 2011 season. Smith did not have a major impact in his first season with the Bills.
Lee was a three-year letter-winner at quarterback from 1972-74 at Vanderbilt.