The Buffalo Bills have fired head coach Dick Jauron. NFL.com's Jason La Canfora had the story first via Twitter. Perry Fewell, in his fourth season as Buffalo's defensive coordinator, will be tapped as the interim replacement to Jauron, a fact first reported by NFL.com's Vic Carucci. That move has yet to be made official by the team, though Ralph Wilson has confirmed via statement that Jauron is done.
The decision to fire Jauron came after his Bills team stumbled to a 3-6 start in his fourth, and most critical, season as coach. Jauron ends his Bills career with a record of 24-33. His tenure was marked with offensive inconsistency, a revolving door at quarterback, curious game-day and personnel decisions, and many a late-game collapse. He has been squarely on the proverbial "hot seat" since the Bills' 2-8 finish to the 2008 season.
Jauron's moves have, unsurprisingly, been viewed as increasingly desperate this season, including the signing of receiver Terrell Owens, the implementation and subsequent scrapping of the no-huddle offense, and the firing of offensive coordinator Turk Schonert just ten days prior to the start of the season.
Fewell's defenses have never been statistically dominant, and while the unit is currently dead last in the league in defending the run, the general sentiment is that, considering the lack of talent and the amount of injuries he's had to work with, Fewell's done an excellent job preaching team defense this season. In fact, the defense has been critical in the team's three wins. He now gets an opportunity to coach Buffalo from the head position for the next seven weeks.
With that, the Dick Jauron era comes to an abrupt halt in Buffalo. The broad, sweeping change the fan base has been eagerly calling for over the past year has finally begun.