Former Buffalo Bills coach Dick Jauron dies at age 74

Former Buffalo Bills coach Dick Jauron, whose NFL playing and coaching career spanned four decades, died Saturday at age 74.

Jauron was the Bills defensive backs coach in 1985 and returned to Buffalo as coach from 2006-09.

The Bills went 7-9 in Jaurons first three years and he was fired in November 2009 after a 3-6 start.

Over eight full seasons and parts of two other years, Jauron was 60-82 as a head coach for the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions (interim) and Bills.

His best season was 2001 when the Bears went 13-3 and he was named NFL Coach of the Year.

Former Buffalo Bills coach Dick Jauron passed away on Saturday at age 74.

Born in Peoria, Ill., Jauron attended high school in Massachusetts and played college football at Yale and became one of the best running backs in Ivy League history.

Jauron was a three-time first-team all-league selection from 1970-72 (freshmen were ineligible to play) and a first-team All-America as a senior.

Jaurons Yale record 2,947 rushing yards stood until 2000 and his record of 16 consecutive 100-yard games was not broken until 2006.

He also played baseball.

Jauron was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

A fourth-round draft pick by the Lions in 1973, Jauron played eight NFL seasons (five with the Lions and three with the Cincinnati Bengals) as a free safety, appearing in 100 games and totaling 25 interceptions.

Jauron started his coaching career with the Bills in 1985, hired by defensive coordinator Hank Bullough, who had coached him in Cincinnati.

Jauron moved onto the Green Bay Packers (nine years as defensive backs coach) and Jacksonville Jaguars (four years as defensive coordinator) before the Bears hired him in 1999.

Following his Bears tenure, Jauron was Detroits defensive coordinator for two years.

The Bills job became open after Mike Mularkey resigned.

Owner Ralph C.

Wilson Jr.

and general manager Marv Levy preferred a coach with previous experience.

Jauron was the runner-up for the Bills job two years earlier that went to Mularkey.

Wilson and Levy chose Jauron over Mike Sherman (the runner-up) and they also interviewed Dom Capers, Bobby April, James Lofton and Jim Caldwell.

Jauron, then 55, was introduced as the Bills 14th coach on Jan.

23, 2006, inheriting a 5-11 team and a franchise who had missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons.

During his introductory press conference, Jauron said: The only thing that Ill promise is Ill do everything I can do to fulfill my part of this obligation to bring a winning team back to Buffalo.

There are lots of teams with great tradition in the National Football League and this is certainly one of them.

Jauron could never figure out the Bills offensive issues they finished 23rd, 30th, 23rd and 28th in points per game.

The 2008 Bills started 5-1, but experienced losing streaks of four and three games to fall out of playoff contention.

Two days after the season, Jauron flew to Wilsons home in Detroit and was retained.

The team played hard all year long and there are many positives to build on, Wilson said in a Dec.

30, 2008 statement.

The 2009 season got off to an ominous start when Jauron fired offensive coordinator Turk Schonert 10 days before the regular season.

It just didnt feel like we were progressing (offensively), said Jauron, who promoted quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt to offensive coordinator.

The Bills exited their bye with a 41-17 loss at Tennessee, prompting Wilson to send Jauron packing.

He went 5-14 over his last 19 games.

Hes just a great guy and I feel very bad about it, Wilson said.

But I think its best for the team and the fans and everybody.

Jauron was fired with 2 1/2 years left on his contract.

Jauron coached only three more seasons a senior assistant for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2010 and two years as the Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator in 2011-12.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Saturday morning, former Bears quarterback Jim Miller wrote: Great coach and best human being you could ever learn and play for.

Former NFL coach Todd Haley, who worked for Jauron in Chicago, wrote: The world and the world of the NFL lost a great human being.

He was a special player, coach, husband, father, boss and especially person.

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