That is a subject line that will catch your eye. I don’t think any other coach in the league did more with less talent than Dick did last year. I wasn’t sure what to think when they hired him but I have to say he has won me over. We don’t commit stupid penalties and we don’t turn the ball over very often. You will stay in a lot of games that way. It takes a couple of years for a team to surround a coach with his type of players to fit the system and I think the front office has done a great job with that.

Why shouldn’t Jauron be held accountable if this season is an utter failure (outside of any unforseen circumstances)??? It’s his team in place now, as the roster has pretty much been turned over since he arrived. He’s got his coaches in place, his schemes, his draft picks, etc, etc. If we aren’t any good this year, say 6-10, why shouldn’t Jauron be fired? We already know it’s tough enough to succeed with him at the helm in the NFL (see 1 winning season).

Now the team is better. Is Jauron on the hot seat if the 2008 Bills don’t make significant improvement? Probably not.

If the team is better, shouldn’t we see that on the field? If we don’t, doesn’t that reflect poorly on the head coach? Ask Matt Doherty when he was UNC’s hoops coach. He recruited HS All-Americans to play for him, had support of Tarheel nation, and still found a way to win only 8 games (I think) one year. Of course, he was shown the door because he couldn’t get the best out of his team. Why wouldn’t Jauron face the same scrutiny?

He’s not had a lot of success at the NFL level, which can be attributed to many things – not just his coaching style. He’s taken risks when it comes to his coaching staff (most recently his hiring of Turk Schonert as offensive coordinator), and a good number of them have not paid off.

Brian, I don’t get it. I’m not trying to be overly negative, but if he’s continuously hiring poor Coordinators (please be different Turk!!!), doesn’t that say more about him? Having very little success at the NFL level is a pretty strong indicator of coaching, don’t ya think?

Jauron’s style doesn’t mesh with the generally preferred style of the Bills fan base.

This may or may not be true, I don’t know how many Bills fans feel outside of those on here and maybe BB.com. I don’t have the slightest clue as to what it’s like in WNY. However, does this matter? I’m sure all the fans want a guy who’s willing to take risks to win games, not sit back and pray the opponent makes mistakes. Jauron’s overconservative, play not to lose mantra is what irks me, and others, the most. As the great Herm Edwards sings: “You plaaaay to wiiiin the gaaame!!!”. I don’t think Jauron does that all the time.

The most important thing that Jauron has done in his nearly three years on the job – amidst all of the (mostly warranted) controversy he’s made on the field, including juggling quarterbacks in ’07 and poor late-game strategy on a few occasions – is give the franchise direction.

Agree here. We do finally have someone who has his schemes in place and we our tailoring additions and subtractions towards that. Whether that’s right or wrong, we will soon find out. This is better than the Donohoe way of bringing in whoever, whenever he sees fit.

What most fans don’t take into account when forming their internal opinion on whether Jauron is on the hot seat in 2008 is this: Jauron is a very intricate part of Buffalo’s newly re-shuffled front office. The new regime took over this past January, and while they’ve faced some hardships (J.P. Losman and Jason Peters the chief instigators), they haven’t made a poor decision to date.

Obviously, we won’t know whether this past offseasons additions/subtractions will have been worthwhile until December and beyond. However, Jauron was part of the FO and decision making that brought in guys like Tripplett, Price, Royal, Reed, Ellison, A-Train, Nall, Reyes, Webster, Fowler, D.Wright, M.Bowen, etc and traded up for McCargo/Poz, etc, etc, etc. Those are some of the errors that have been made under his direction, along with Marv’s. Sure, we have Marshawn, Edwards, Whitner, Williams, Butler, etc, which is definitely awesome, but it’s not like he has been anywhere near flawless in talent evaluation.

I will say that the way the Bills’ FO is set up, it would set us back if he were fired after the season, which I’d hate to see….again. However, Jauron helped build the team to where it is now, hand picked a QB, brought in his FA and draftees, hired new coaches and implemented his schemes….it’s time for us to see results on the field. Jauron HAS to be held accountable eventually. If we keep putting up 6-8 win seasons, how is that a good thing?? We all want to see the playoffs and beyond, so until Jauron proves he has the stones to lead us there, I will be skeptical and state my feelings about how he isn’t the guy to take us there (in my eyes).

I’m guessing this topic will bring out some great responses…..

Let me start by saying I like Dick Jauron. He was the perfect coach for the Bills following several years of ineptitude. He was a stabilizing force for the team, front office and the fans. The problem is how long can we operate under the security blanket if the team doesn’t start winning? I think 08’ is the year for the team to show marked improvement and for Jauron to prove that he can not only manage a team through turmoil but managed a team that has expectations of success. Will he be fired after this year if the team fails to move forward, probably not. There will be no excuses in 09’ though.
Brian, your point of Jauron being one of the front office personnel is a bit of a reach. ultimately each member wants to keep their job. if the team is unsuccessful the HC is the first to go. Ralph has unbelievable confidence in Russ Brandon and given this is his 1st year he will be around a lot longer. Jauron, in my opinion, has a 2 year window to show that he can bring a winning team to Buffalo.

If he doesn’t start winning he needs to be dealt with but I think he will win. I think this is the most talented team we have had in a while. Barring injury, with Dicks coaching style and a favorable schedule I don’t think Whitner’s guarantee was too far off.

Also you can make a good argument that Dick cost us a couple of wins last year. But how many wins did Fairchild and Losman cost us over Dick’s coaching tenure???

Part of me feels that if D.J. doesn’t start winning then he needs to go, the other part doesn’t want to go through the whole rebuilding process again. The best way for me to be at peace here is for D.J. to simply win.

I think the plusses out weigh the minuses, but I blame him directly for some losses. The Cowboys game being the biggest. I blame him for keeping Neal and dumping Schneck as a long snapper. That was a gamble and it hurt us. 9 out of 10 isn’t good enough. He cost us potentially two games with bad snaps.

Dick is a level headed, smart guy that I want to keep. I want him to learn from his in game mistakes. If he doesn’t, my confidence will erode.

I was surprised Bobby April wasn’t a bigger player in the search for a head coach when they hired Dick.