Dick Jauron

Richard Manuel Jauron (born October 7, 1950) is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL).

He played eight seasons in the NFL as a safety, five with the Detroit Lions and three with the Cincinnati Bengals.

In football, he was a Parade All-American selection as a senior, and was featured in the November 1968 issue of Sport magazine as Teenage Athlete Of The Month.

He has been honored as one of the top ten all-time Massachusetts high school football players by the Boston Globe.

Jauron rushed for 2,947 yards in three seasons (freshmen were not eligible for the varsity team in the 1970s) at Yale, a record that stood until 2000, and was three times named to the All-Ivy League First-team, the first Yale football athlete to be so honored.

Jauron was selected a NFF Scholar Athlete in 1972.

Jauron was born in Peoria, Illinois.

He attended grammar school in Rensselaer, Indiana and Saint Pius V elementary school in Lynn, MA. He attended Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball.

Jauron won the 1972 Asa S. Bushnell Award as Ivy League Player of the Year in football.

He is the only athlete to hold a berth in the College Football Hall of Fame, win the Asa S. Bushnell award, and claim selection as a NFF Scholar Athlete.

In 1973, Jauron won the William Neely Mallory Award, the most prestigious athletic award given to a senior male at Yale.

After graduating from college, Jauron was selected in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.

He was also drafted as a shortstop by baseball's St. Louis Cardinals in the 25th round of the 1973 MLB Draft.

Jauron chose the NFL.

He started at free safety as a rookie for the Lions.

Jauron played with the Lions for five seasons (1973–1977) and the Cincinnati Bengals for three seasons (1978–1980).

He finished his playing career with 25 interceptions and two touchdowns.

He was named to the 1975 Pro Bowl in his second season after leading the NFC in punt return average.

Jauron began his coaching career in the NFL in 1985 as the Buffalo Bills defensive backs coach.

He was offered the position by Bills defensive coordinator Hank Bullough, who was the Bengals defensive coordinator when Jauron was a player.

After one season with the Bills, Jauron was named the defensive backs coach for the Green Bay Packers.

He worked with the team for eight seasons, serving under three different head coaches: Forrest Gregg, Lindy Infante, and Mike Holmgren.

Jauron became the defensive coordinator for the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995 at the invitation of then-Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin, whom he coached with at Green Bay.

The Jaguars made the playoffs in three of Jauron's four seasons with the team, including an appearance in the 1996 AFC Championship Game.

Jauron served as the head coach the Chicago Bears from 1999 to 2003 and the Buffalo Bills from 2006 until November 2009.

Jauron became the 12th head coach in Chicago Bears history on January 23, 1999, when he was hired to replace Dave Wannstedt, who was fired after two consecutive 4–12 seasons.

Jauron coached the Bears for five seasons (1999–2003), finishing with a 35–45 regular season record and one playoff appearance.

In his first two seasons, the Bears finished last in the NFC Central with 6–10 and 5–11 records.

Jauron, however, led the greatest turnaround in team history during his third season.

Jauron was named the AP Coach of the Year in 2001 after leading the Bears to a 13–3 record.

Jauron played college football at Yale University.

Following his first head-coaching job, Jauron served as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions in 2004 and the first 11 games of the 2005 season before being named the team's interim head coach.

He was also the interim head coach for the Lions for the final five games of the 2005 season.

His school-record streak of 16 consecutive 100-yard rushing games was not broken until 2006.

Jauron was awarded the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Award for sportsmanship following his junior season and the Bulger Lowe Award, given to the best Division I-A/I-AA player in New England, after his senior season.

Jauron recorded the best rushing performance, 183 yards, in The Game his senior season.

Yale overcame a 17–0 halftime deficit to defeat Harvard, 28–17.

At Yale Jauron was a three–time All–Ivy First-team selection in an era when freshmen were barred from playing varsity football, and a First-team All America selection during his senior year.

He was also a three–time letter winner on Yale's varsity baseball team.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.