Dick Jauron, the former coach of the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills who spent 28 years coaching in the NFL, died early Saturday morning. He was 74 years old, and had recently been diagnosed with cancer.
Jauron is best known for his time with the Bears, going 35–45 across five seasons as head coach of the franchise (1999 to 2003), including a breakout 13–3 campaign in 2001 for which he beat out Bill Belichick to win the NFL Coach of the Year award. Jauron also led the Bills from 2006 to '09, going 24–33. He went 1–4 as the interim coach of the Detroit Lions in '05, and had stints on the Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns coaching staffs. He last served as the Browns defensive coordinator from 2011 to '12.
