Dick Jauron obit

 

Former Bears head coach Dick Jauron dies at 74

He was not on the list.

Dick Jauron, who was the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 1999 to 2003, passed away Saturday morning at the age of 74. The news was first reported by Joey Barrett of the Daily Item and confirmed by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Jauron died of cancer.

Jauron was born in Peoria, Illinois, and spent his childhood in New England. He attended Yale as a student athlete in both baseball and football and was drafted by the Detroit Lions as a safety in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL Draft. Jauron played in the NFL for eight seasons before turning to coaching.

In 1985, Jauron began his coaching career as a defensive backs coach for the Buffalo Bills. He was then part of the legendary Green Bay Packers coaching staff as their defensive backs coach from 1986 to 1994, working with coaches such as Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid, Jon Gruden, and Steve Mariucci.

Thanks to his work as the defensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 1995 to 1998, Jauron was hired as the 12th head coach in Bears history in 1999, replacing Dave Wannstedt. Jauron's first two seasons were uneventful, but he guided the Bears to a magical season in 2001. Chicago went 13-3 thanks to a few miraculous wins, a rising defense, and a steady offense built on the ground game. The Bears captured the NFC Central division title, and Jauron won NFL Coach of the Year honors. Unfortunately, the Bears were bounced by the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round.

Jauron lasted two more seasons with records of 4-12 in 2002 and 7-9 in 2003 before he was fired. He helped lay the foundation for his predecessor, Lovie Smith, however, with the roster he had a hand in constructing. Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher, perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs, Pro Bowl defensive back Charles Tillman, and safety Mike Brown were all selected in the draft under Jauron. They were key members of the team that went to Super Bowl XLI during the 2006-2007 season.

Following his tenure with the Bears, Jauron was the defensive coordinator for the Lions in 2004 and 2005 and served as head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2006 to 2009. He remained in the coaching ranks until the end of the 2012 season.

He played eight seasons in the NFL as a safety, five with the Detroit Lions and three with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jauron served as the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 1999 to 2003 and the Buffalo Bills from 2006 until November 2009. He was also the interim head coach for the Lions for the final five games of the 2005 season. He was named the AP Coach of the Year in 2001 after leading the Bears to a 13–3 record.

Jauron played college football for the Yale Bulldogs. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015. Jauron was selected a NFF Scholar Athlete in 1972.

Jauron was born in Peoria, Illinois. He attended grammar school in Rensselaer, Indiana and Saint Pius V elementary school in Lynn, MA. He attended Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was a Parade All-American selection as a senior, and was featured in the November 1968 issue of Sport magazine as Teenage Athlete Of The Month. He had been honored as one of the top ten all-time Massachusetts high school football players by the Boston Globe.

At Yale University, Jauron rushed for 2,947 yards in three seasons (freshmen were not eligible for the varsity team in the 1970s) for the Bulldogs, a record that stood until 2000,[4] and was three times named to the All-Ivy League First-team, the first Yale football athlete to be so honored. His school-record streak of 16 consecutive 100-yard rushing games was not broken until 2006. Jauron was awarded the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Award for sportsmanship following his junior season and the Bulger Lowe Award, given to the best Division I-A/I-AA player in New England, after his senior season. Jauron recorded the best rushing performance, 183 yards, in The Game his senior season. Yale overcame a 17–0 halftime deficit to defeat Harvard, 28–17.

At Yale Jauron was a three–time All–Ivy First-team selection in an era when freshmen were barred from playing varsity football, and a First-team All America selection during his senior year. He was also a three–time letter winner on Yale's varsity baseball team.

Jauron won the 1972 Asa S. Bushnell Award as Ivy League Player of the Year in football. He is the only athlete to hold a berth in the College Football Hall of Fame, win the Asa S. Bushnell award, and claim selection as a NFF Scholar Athlete. In 1973, Jauron won the William Neely Mallory Award, the most prestigious athletic award given to a senior male at Yale.

Jauron began his coaching career in the NFL in 1985 as the Buffalo Bills defensive backs coach. He was offered the position by Bills defensive coordinator Hank Bullough, who was the Bengals defensive coordinator when Jauron was a player.

After one season with the Bills, Jauron was named the defensive backs coach for the Green Bay Packers. He worked with the team for eight seasons, serving under three different head coaches: Forrest Gregg, Lindy Infante, and Mike Holmgren.

Jauron became the defensive coordinator for the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995 at the invitation of then-Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin, whom he coached with at Green Bay. The Jaguars made the playoffs in three of Jauron's four seasons with the team, including an appearance in the 1996 AFC Championship Game.

Following his first head-coaching job, Jauron served as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions in 2004 and the first 11 games of the 2005 season before being named the team's interim head coach.

Jauron was then hired by the Detroit Lions as a defensive coordinator. He was promoted to interim head coach of the Lions on November 28, 2005, after the mid-season firing of Steve Mariucci. Detroit was 4–7 when Jauron took over and won only one of their last five games, finishing the season 5–11. Although Jauron was one of many candidates who interviewed for the head coaching position after the season, he was passed over for Rod Marinelli.

Jauron was named the 14th head coach in Buffalo Bills history on January 23, 2006, following the resignation of Mike Mularkey. He led the Bills to three consecutive 7–9 records, finishing respectively third, second and fourth in the AFC East. In 2008 the team started 5–1, but ended the season on a 2–8 skid.

Bills owner Ralph Wilson announced on December 30, 2008, that Jauron would be brought back for the 2009 season despite the expiration of his three-year contract.

On the morning of Friday, September 4, 2009, Jauron fired his offensive coordinator, Turk Schonert, in a morning meeting before the regular season began. Two different viewpoints emerged, Jauron stating in a press conference the reason for his firing was a "lack of productivity", while Schonert claimed that Jauron told him that he "had too many formations, too many plays", and that he "didn't simplify it to his liking." Schonert was replaced the same day by former Buffalo Bills quarterback and then quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt. After taking over, Van Pelt brought back the no-huddle offense, in the form of Jim Kelly's "K-Gun" offense that led the team to four straight Super Bowl appearances in the 1990s.

On November 17, 2009, Jauron was fired by the Bills.

Career history

As a player:

Detroit Lions (1973–1977)

Cincinnati Bengals (1978–1980)

As a coach:

Buffalo Bills (1985)

Defensive backs coach

Green Bay Packers (1986–1994)

Defensive backs coach

Jacksonville Jaguars (1995–1998)

Defensive coordinator

Chicago Bears (1999–2003)

Head coach

Detroit Lions (2004–2005)

Defensive coordinator

Detroit Lions (2005)

Interim head coach

Buffalo Bills (2006–2009)

Head coach

Philadelphia Eagles (2010)

Senior assistant & defensive backs coach

Cleveland Browns (2011–2012)

Defensive coordinator

Career highlights and awards

AP NFL Coach of the Year (2001)

Pro Bowl (1974)

First-team All-American (1972)

First-team All-East (1972)

3× First-team All-Ivy League

Head coaching record

Regular season:           60–82 (.423)

Postseason:     0–1 (.000)

Career: 60–83 (.420)