COACHING With Bills, Jauron gets second chance

The former Bears coach promised to bring a winning team back to Buffalo.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Dick Jauron will get a second chance to prove himself as a head coach after being hired by the Buffalo Bills on Monday.
Jauron's hiring was announced by Bills owner Ralph Wilson and general manager Marv Levy at a news conference.
This is Jauron's second time as a head coach after going 35-46 -- including one playoff loss -- in five years with the Chicago Bears. Fired by the Bears after the 2003 season, he had only one winning season, going 13-3 in 2001 when he was named the NFL's coach of the year.
"The only thing I'll promise to do is everything I can to fulfill my obligation to bring a winning team back to Buffalo," Jauron said. "There's a great winning tradition here, we know the fans are very passionate and it's something we're very passionate about."
Job history
Jauron spent the past two years as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator, and finished last season as the team's interim head coach after Steve Mariucci was fired in late November.
He replaces Mike Mularkey, who resigned 10 days ago, and becomes Buffalo's fourth head coach since Levy, the Hall of Fame coach, retired after the 1997 season.
Jauron takes over a team that underachieved with a 5-11 finish last season, missing the playoffs for the sixth straight year -- the team's longest drought since the NFL merger.
The Bills have gone 31-49 since 2001, tied with Cleveland for the third worst record in the NFL over that span -- not including Houston, which joined the league in 2002. That's a significant drop off for the AFC's winningest franchise in the 1990s. The team made an unprecedented four straight Super Bowl appearances under Levy.
Jauron is a defensive specialist who, as Jacksonville's defensive coordinator from 1995-98, helped the expansion team reach the playoffs three times. A former NFL defensive back, Jauron broke into coaching as an assistant with the Bills in 1985 and also spent nine years as a defensive backs coach with Green Bay.
Knows ups and downs
Jauron said he's well seasoned after experiencing the highs of his winning 2001 season, and some lows.
"There's a number of things I learned. In 2001, we were not criticized for that. When we were 6-10 [in 1999] we were criticized for that. So what I learned is you better win. When you win, you're pretty smart. When you don't, you're not."
The biggest question involving Jauron's hiring is how he'll address a sputtering Bills' offense, which finished 28th in the NFL last season. The unit struggled under first-year starter J.P. Losman, who went 2-7 in games he had a majority of playing time, and eventually lost his job to journeyman backup Kelly Holcomb.
Among Jauron's first decisions will be hiring an offensive coordinator to replace Tom Clements, who was among five assistants fired earlier this month. He's also expected to find a new defensive coordinator after Jerry Gray, who remains on staff, has said he doesn't expect to be back.
The Bills bucked the NFL trend in selecting an experienced head coach after six of seven vacancies this month have been filled by first-timers. The only exception has been Herm Edwards, who the Chiefs lured away from the Jets.
Other vacancies
Houston, meanwhile, is also prepared to go for a rookie when team owner Bob McNair announced Sunday that he will hire Denver offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. The Oakland Raiders are the only team that has yet to identify a coach it plans to hire.
Jauron was a Bills head coaching candidate in 2004 before losing out to Mularkey.
Jauron was Levy's first choice, and beat out former Packers coach Mike Sherman for the job following a weeklong interview process conducted by Wilson and Levy.
"We weren't selecting an offensive coach or a defensive coach or a kicking teams coach for that matter. We were selecting the best head coach, the man who was going to direct it and put it all together," Levy said.
Levy is back with the team after being hired two weeks ago to replace president/GM Tom Donahoe, who was fired.
Although Jauron never coached under Levy, the two are close. Levy attempted to hire Jauron as his defensive coordinator in 1995, but lost out to Jacksonville. Levy, who maintains a home in Chicago, had previously worked as a Bears broadcaster during Jauron's tenure with the team.