ClutchPoints
Dick Jauron, a former NFL player and longtime coach who led the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills, died today at the age of 74.
Jauron’s death was announced by the Bills, of whom Jauron served as head coach from 2006 to 2009.
“We’re saddened to learn about the passing of former Head Coach Dick Jauron,” the Bills posted on X, formerly Twitter. “We are thinking of his friends, family, and loved ones during this difficult time.”
We’re saddened to learn about the passing of former Head Coach Dick Jauron.
We are thinking of his friends, family, and loved ones during this difficult time: https://t.co/EkWBaJJ9yE pic.twitter.com/JIg6Y1qTDA
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) February 8, 2025
Jauron was an All-American high school athlete at Swampscott in Massachusetts before becoming an All-American and three-time All-Ivy League selection at Yale.
A defensive back, Jauron was selected in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. Additionally, the St. Louis Cardinals selected Jauron in the 25th round of the Major League Baseball Draft that same year.
Jauron played eight seasons in the NFL — five with the Lions and three with the Cincinnati Bengals — and earned a Pro Bowl selection in 1974 before retiring. In 1985, he began coaching with the Bills, whose defensive coordinator Hank Bullough had coached Jauron when they were both with the Bengals.
Jauron spent nearly 15 years as an assistant coach in the NFL, working for the Bills, Green Bay Packers, and Jacksonville Jaguars, before becoming the head coach of the Chicago Bears in 1999.
The Bears won 11 combined games between his first two seasons as head coach, but in 2001, Jauron led the Bears to a 13-3 record, an NFC Central championship, and the franchise’s first playoff appearance since 1994. For the turnaround, Jauron won the AP NFL Coach of the Year Award.
After back-to-back subsequent losing seasons, Jauron was dismissed by the Bears following the 2003 season. He then served as the defensive coordinator for the Lions before also adding the interim head coach title when Steve Mariucci was fired 11 games into the season.
Jauron became a head coach for the second and final time in 2006 when the Bills hired him to succeed Mike Mularkey. In his four seasons in Buffalo, he led the Bills to a 24-33 record.
He finished his coaching career with one-year stay with the Philadelphia Eagles and then a two-year stint as the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator.
The post Former Bears, Bills coach Dick Jauron dies at 74 appeared first on ClutchPoints.
