Chan Gailey’s Bills exacted revenge on one of their head coach’s former employers already this year, pounding Todd Haley’s Kansas City Chiefs 41-7 in the opener. A taller task, though, will be downing the team of another former boss who booted Gailey out of the Big D—owner Jerry Jones and his Dallas Cowboys. 

As ESPN Dallas/Fort Worth reports, Jones regrets firing Gailey, the Cowboys’ head coach in 1998 and 1999 that led the team to an 18-12 total record and two Wild Card appearances, both losses. Gailey wasn’t thrust into the easiest situation, massaging Michael Irvin’s ego and milking as much as he could out of a late-career Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. Still, Jones was unsatisfied with Gailey’s ability to win important games—especially in the post-season—regardless of how much Gailey was able to muster from a weakened roster. 

Because his Dallas tenure was well over a decade ago, there’s not an immediate sense of revenge.  Gailey, often described as “plain” and “boring,” certainly won’t make anything personal of the 1 p.m. contest on Sunday at Cowboy Stadium (CBS). Gailey’s comments on Wednesday to the Dallas Morning News were certainly milquetoast, positing, “I see [Jones] at the league meetings and see him at different places, and it’s just fine,’’ the Bills’ head coach said. “We get along well.”

Still, it’s tough not to suspect that Gailey would receive plenty of satisfaction from defeating two former employers in one season, validating himself, in a sense, to former bosses who felt he was unworthy.  He’d simply prove that, with the right situation, the right staff and a team that trusts his offensive scheme, he’s more than just a fringe NFL head coach.