Former Bears and Bills head coach Dick Jauron passes away at age 74

According to legacy.com on Tuesday, former Chicago Bears head coach Dick Jauron of Peoria, Illinois passed away on Saturday at the age of 74. The cause of death was cancer.

Jauron was the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 1999 to 2003, and the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from 2006 to 2009. He was also the interim head coach of the Detroit Lions in 2005. Jauron’s National Football League head coaching record was 60 wins and 82 losses.

Jauron’s most memorable coaching season came in 2001 when he had a record of 13 wins and three losses with the Bears, and was the NFL Coach of the Year. Chicago won the NFC Central Division that season, and were the second seed in the National Football Conference heading into the postseason. However, Chicago lost 33-19 to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional Playoff.

Jauron is one of five Bears coaches to be named coach of the year. The other four are George Halas of Chicago, Illinois (1963 and 1965), Mike Ditka of Carnegie, Pennsylvania (1985 and 1988), Lovie Smith of Gladewater, Texas (2005), and Matt Nagy of Dunellen, New Jersey (2018). Halas is second all-time in NFL wins with 318. He is only behind former Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula of Grand River, Ohio, who had 328 wins.

Jauron was a long-time assistant coach too. He was the Bills defensive backs coach (1985), Green Bay Packers defensive backs coach (1985 to 1994), Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator (1995 to 1998), Detroit Lions defensive coordinator (2004 to 2005), Philadelphia Eagles senior assistant and defensive back coach (2010), and Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator (2011 and 2012).

As a player, Jauron played eight seasons in the NFL as a free safety. He was with the Detroit Lions from 1973 to 1977, and the Cincinnati Bengals from 1978 to 1980. In 100 games, Jauron had 25 interceptions for 432 yards, two interceptions for touchdowns, 15 fumble recoveries for 33 yards and four sacks.

The two pick sixes came in victories. On November 18, 1973, Jauron had a 95 yard interception return for a touchdown in a 30-7 Lions win over the Chicago Bears. Jauron had three interceptions for 167 yards in the game. Then on December 3, 1978, Jauron had a 24 yard interception return for a touchdown in a 37-7 Cincinnati Bengals win over the Atlanta Falcons.

In 1974, Jauron was selected to the Pro Bowl as a safety. He had one interception for 26 yards and one fumble recovery with the Lions.

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