In Episode 6 of Coach’s Corner, hosts Dan McCann and Ian Hall sit down with Brian Gaine, Assistant General Manager of the Buffalo Bills. A former tight end (and Dan’s high-school teammate), Brian has spent 30+ years in NFL personnel and scouting. He unpacks how preparation, a growth mindset, and data-driven decisions shape winning teams—and how those same principles map to AI coaching in contact centers.
“Embrace the process. Trust the process. The game gets easier when the week is hard.” — Brian Gaine
Listen to the episode: watch episode 6.
Brian’s path runs from state-title Fridays in New Jersey to front-office Sundays in the NFL. He played tight end at the University of Maine, then built a career across five NFL organizations, working under icons like Bill Parcells. Today, as Assistant GM of the Buffalo Bills, Brian blends scouting, analytics, and culture to build rosters that can thrive in high-variance, high-pressure moments.
Highlights:
Assistant GM, Buffalo Bills; previously held personnel roles across 5 NFL teams.
Played for and later worked under Bill Parcells.
Early athletic foundation in Gaelic (Irish) football, developing conditioning, spatial awareness, and lateral agility.
Known for codifying position “critical factors” and turning evaluation into actionable decisions.
Brian’s championship high-school team finished 8–3—not undefeated. Those regular-season losses became their edge.
Lesson: Adversity, when coached well, accelerates growth.
How coaching showed up: Raising the practice standard so game day felt comparatively “easy”; teaching players to normalize hard.
CX parallel: High-performing contact centers inoculate agents against pressure with reps: difficult customer personas, broken systems, complicated policies—before it happens live.
Brian frames coaching as a Monday–Saturday system that makes Sunday predictable:
Clear weekly rhythm: film, install, heavy practice days, situational rehearsals (3rd down, red zone, 2-minute).
Meeting → field loop: data in the classroom becomes scripted practice periods to reinforce recognition and response.
Translate to AI coaching:
SymTrain’s cycle mirrors this: analyze interaction data → assign targeted sims → rehearse the situation → measure → iterate.
Within the Bills’ culture, Brian emphasizes growth and improvement mindset:
“No matter how talented you are, there’s always something you can make 1% better today.”
Keep attention on today’s work, not Friday’s worry or Sunday’s outcome.
CX application: Short, frequent drills on micro-skills (concise explanations, de-escalation phrasing, system fluency) build compounding gains.
Brian splits development into two tracks:
Physical: strength, power, speed, agility, balance, position technique.
Intangibles (becoming a pro): practice habits, recovery & wellness, nutrition, film study, playbook mastery, being a great teammate.
Why it matters: Draft picks arrive between ~19–25 years old; none are “finished.” The same is true in CX—new hires need skills and professional habits (mindset, resilience, communication hygiene).
To make better decisions, Brian’s scouting model attaches numeric grades to:
Critical factors: e.g., speed, quickness, agility, balance/body control.
Position specifics: e.g., for TEs—blocking, route running, separation, hands, YAC.
Because each trait is scored (e.g., 1–9 scale), the staff can surface league-wide trends:
Example: “9 of 10 tight ends drafted in Rounds 1–3 scored 8+ in speed.”
Insight converts to scouting criteria and development focus.
CX translation: Instrument core competencies (accuracy, empathy, ownership, first-call resolution drivers). Score them consistently. Let the data pick the next drill for each agent.
Analytics at the Bills supports three loops:
Self-analysis (what we do well/poorly)
Opponent analysis (what they call in specific downs/distances)
League trends (what wins, where the game is moving)
Crucially, the numbers don’t sit in slides—they shape practice scripts. If an opponent plays a coverage 80% of the time on 3rd-and-short, that’s exactly what the offense rehearses mid-week.
CX parallel: If data shows empathy misses spike with billing disputes, build a practice block of disputes with realistic policy constraints—and rehearse until it sticks.
As a player, Brian sought blunt truth. His perceived weakness: top-end speed. The plan:
Two summers of 12-week speed training in Ohio
Shaved tenths off the 40, converting a liability into a differentiator
Leadership takeaway: Feedback must be specific, honest, and paired with a plan. In CX, that’s targeted simulations + a clear metric for “done right.”
Growing up in a house of Irish immigrants, Brian played Gaelic football until 18:
Built conditioning (run all day), lateral movement, spatial awareness, and contact comfort
Transferred those gains to football—especially on defense and special teams
Coaching note: Diverse reps create adaptive athletes—and adaptive agents.
Brian credits his parents and community for relentless confidence reinforcement:
After every game, his father said, “You did great.” Statistically impossible? Sure. But belief compounds.
He now models that with his own kids. A recent example: his 10-year-old pitcher got shelled, then struck out the next batter to end the inning. The teaching point wasn’t the box score—it was the response.
CX parallel: Praise the recovery (great reset, solid summarization after escalation), not just the perfect call.
Favorite movie: The Fugitive — nonstop action and relentless pursuit of the right outcome.
Favorite author: Bill Walsh — three leadership books on culture, organizational architecture, and building a sustainable winner.
Most influential coaches:
Bill Stegall (HS): injected confidence + toughness; made Saturdays feel easy.
Joel Gilbert (college; now Panthers OL coach): unlocked the technical footwork of blocking and built deep player relationships.
Make the week harder than the weekend. Script practice from data; rehearse situational pressure.
Score what matters. Turn competencies into numeric signals so trends (and drills) become obvious.
Coach the person and the pro. Skills + habits + team chemistry.
Tell the truth and bring a plan. Specific feedback + targeted reps beats “try harder.”
Chase 1% daily. Process over outcome compounds into performance.