The tenure of Dick Jauron in Buffalo has come to an end. After a dissapointing 41-17 loss on Sunday in Nashville against the Titans, the Buffalo Bills have terminated Dick Jauron as the head coach. “I am announcing today that I am relieving Dick Jauron from his duties as our head coach, effective immediately," said team owner Ralph Wilson in a team statement. "I have tremendous respect for Dick and thank him for all of his efforts during these past four years. While this was a very difficult decision, I felt that it is one that needed to be made at this time for the best interest of our team. We will now focus on moving forward and preparing for our game this week in Jacksonville.” The last time Wilson has fired a head coach during the regular season was Hank Bullough back in 1986, also through nine games.
The word is from One Bills Drive that the team has just announced that Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell will be the team's interim head coach. “Perry Fewell will be our Interim Head Coach," said owner Ralph Wilson in a team statement. "Perry has done a great job with our defense and has demonstrated excellent leadership skills as Defensive Coordinator. Our players and staff have a lot of confidence in him and that is important as we look forward to these next seven games.” The last interim head coach during the regular season was Hall of Fame Head Coach Marv Levy, after taking over the duties from Hank Bullough.
Jauron’s job security was not safe at the begining of the year as the team started 1-4 through its first five games. Jauron led the Bills to three consecutive 7-9 seasons before this season’s 3-6 record through the first nine games.
Struggles on both the offensive side and defensive side of the ball plagued Jauron’s tenure in Buffalo. None of Jauron’s teams ever had an offensive ranking higher than 25th in his time as Bills head coach. Buffalo finished 30th, 30th, 25th and has a current ranking of 29th through nine games played this season. He had three different offensive coordinators in his three-plus seasons as head coach. Defending the run was also a stumbling block under Jauron’s leadership. The Bills never ranked higher than 22nd in the league against the run and are currently last in the NFL in that category this season.
The Bills are off to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars on Sunday afternoon. For more info, read Chris Brown's blog on the official website of the Buffalo Bills, http://www.buffalobills.com/
taken from Chirs Browns Blog, photo courtesy of AP