Former Bears, Bills head coach and NFL Coach of the Year winner, dies at 74

Longtime NFL coach and former defensive back Dick Jauron has died at the age of 74, the Buffalo Bills, who Jauron coached from 2006-09, announced Saturday. The former Chicago Bears head coach and Peoria native coached in the NFL for nearly three decades, most recently serving as the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns from 2011-12.

Jauron was the Bears head coach from 1999-2003, and won NFL Coach of the Year in 2001 after a 13-3 campaign in which Chicago won the NFC Central, and made the playoffs for the first time since 1994. The Bears had the No. 1 scoring defense, and sent a total of five players to the Pro Bowl, including defensive tackle Ted Washington and linebacker Brian Urlacher. In five seasons with Chicago, Jauron went 35-45. His 35 wins rank fifth in franchise history.

Following his firing in 2003, Jauron went on to serve as the defensive coordinator and interim head coach of the Detroit Lions, and got another shot as a head coach with the Bills, whom he led from 2006-09.

The Yale graduate also spent eight seasons in the NFL as a defensive back. Selected in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Lions, Jauron recorded four interceptions in his first season, and led the league in interception return yards with 208. He made the Pro Bowl in his second NFL season, and played a total of 100 games for the Lions and Cincinnati Bengals.