The inevitable has finally happened, and Dick Jauron is (mercifully) no longer the head football coach of the Buffalo Bills. Bills fans are most certainly starting fires and overturning cars in celebration as we speak.
My quick take on what led to Jauron’s downfall:
- Injury mismanagement. Every team has injuries, but the Bills’ injury problems always seemed worse. Why? Because Jauron mismanaged the IR, in part by putting injured players on it in September who were ready to play by November (Crowell last year, Posluszny in his rookie year). Also, too many non-contact practices leave the team in poor shape to withstand the season.
- Clock mismanagement and bad play-calling. Jauron simply gave away several games off the top of my head: Denver, season opener ’07; Dallas, MNF ’07; Cleveland, MNF ’08; and the second Jets game last year. No clock awareness and no ability to make the correct decision at the right time.
- The complete and utter absence of anything resembling a clue on the offensive side of the ball, which in turn led to the inability to develop a quarterback.
- What kind of coach seriously says that “You better have guys that are self-motivated, because if you have to motivate them, the odds are it’s not going to happen for you”? A LOSING coach.
Add all this up, and you’ve got a guy who has a 60-82 lifetime coaching record.
Dick Jauron may be a nice person – heck, Chris Berman once said you won’t find a better human being – but he is not a good football coach. And fortunately, as of now, he’s no longer OUR football coach.