Chiefs coach Haley fires offensive coordinator Gailey

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley fired his offensive coordinator Chan Gailey on Monday and said he would take over the role himself.

The Chiefs, who went 2-14 under coach Herm Edwards last season, have lost all three of their preseason games while scoring only two offensive touchdowns.

"It was a very difficult decision for me," Haley said on the NFL team's website (www.kcchiefs.com). "I have the greatest amount of respect for him as a coach, and as a person.

"But ultimately the fate of this team and the accountability falls to me. It just became more apparent to me that I had to be more involved.

"This is a long-term deal for me. This is about doing everything as an organization to give ourselves the best chance to win."

Haley, who directed the offense for the Super Bowl runners-up Arizona Cardinals, was named head coach of Kansas City in February.

The Chiefs have one more pre-season game, against the St. Louis Rams on Thursday, before they launch their regular season away to the Baltimore Ravens on September 13.

"Timing-wise it was better now than to go into the regular season," Haley said of his decision to take over as offensive coordinator. "We have one pre-season game left that we're going to go out to do everything we can to win. This was the time."

(Writing by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by John Mehaffey)