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Getting fired hurts. But getting shown the door before the job is done is humiliating. Dick Jauron was dealt the indignity last week as the Buffalo Bills relieved him of his duties with seven weeks remaining in the 2009 season.
How harsh! The Buffalo organization thought he was doing such a bad job they couldn’t wait to get rid of him. They might as well had Jauron carried out by security during film breakdown with the team and toss him out the back door. Don’t bother cleaning out your office. We’ll ship your belongings to you.
Obviously things didn’t go as well as Jauron hoped when he agreed to be Buffalo’s head coach in 2006. It was a greater disappointment than his five years with the Chicago Bears. At least Jauron led Chicago to a playoff appearance. He was never close with the Bills, never exceeding 7-9, which his teams achieved three times.
Jauron will repair to home and maybe spend a little time reflecting on what went wrong. But don’t be surprised if Jauron doesn’t have much time for self-flagellation.
Understand one thing about the Swampscott native: he’s a heck of a coach. He may not be head coaching material, but he’s proven in the past to be a quality defensive coach and could quickly get a chance to do what he is good at.
Jauron was the defensive backs coach when Mike Holmgren turned Green Bay around. Jauron didn’t wait long enough for the Packers to win Super Bowl XXXVI, but Jauron came close to coaching against his former team when he was the defensive coordinator of the 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars that lost the AFC Championship.
As long as Jauron doesn’t have a problem accepting an assistant role with another team, he could be working again next season. He shouldn’t be embarrassed by accepting an assistant role. What’s embarrassing is being unemployed.
Jauron wouldn’t be the first coach to learn he’s not head material. The NFL has a long history of coaches who excelled as an assistant or coordinator but crashed and burned at the top of the coaching staff. Not everyone can be like Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin or New England’s Bill Belichick. Gratification will come for Jauron when he finds his role and remains content with his place.
Jauron can find inspiration from Gregg Williams. Like Jauron, Williams has a long history coaching defenders. He climbed up from defensive quality control to linebackers with Houston and moved up to defensive coordinator when the Oilers moved to Tennessee. His greatest moment was with the Titans when they reached Super Bowl XXXI.
That success led to a head coach job with the Buffalo Bills which came to an end after three years and a 17-31 record. He immediately hooked up with Washington for the next four years and a season with Jacksonville as the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator.
Williams is now the defensive coordinator of New Orleans and deserves credit for turning the Saints defense around. With pretty much the same defense from last year, the Saints jumped from 23rd to leading the league in turnovers. New Orleans has already exceeded last year’s team in both interceptions (from 15 to 20) and fumble recoveries (seven to nine). What really stands out is the defense has scored seven touchdowns this season.
Another option for Jauron is switching to college football, where Dave Wannstedt, June Jones, Pete Carroll and many others flourished when instructing younger men.
It isn’t a question of if. Jauron will return to coaching soon. We’ll wait and see when and where. He couldn’t lead a turnaround in Buffalo. But in the right situation, Dick Jauron can turn a defense around and play a significant role in a franchise’s recovery.
Read more by Randolph Charlotin at his New England Patriots blog at RandolphC.com. He can be reached at talktome@randolphc.com.
