SWAMPSCOTT — He checked off just about every box the sport of football had to offer. More importantly, perhaps, he did it with class and character.
Dick Jauron, who grew up in Lynn before moving to Swampscott, died early Saturday morning at age 74 shortly after learning he had cancer.
Depending on the era, do-it-all Jauron was a lot of things to a lot of people.
He was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball at Swampscott High, where he was a star running back for the Big Blue from 1966-68. Jauron compiled 3,284 yards rushing across three seasons and sported a 16-0 record as an upperclassman.
From there, he took his gridiron talents to Yale University for Coach Carmen Cozza, where he was widely considered one of the greatest running backs in Ivy League history.
Jauron received the Asa S. Bushnell Cup as the league’s Player of the Year in 1972 and was a first-team All-America the same season. He recorded 2,947 yards rushing and entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
But those boxes just kept being checked, as Jauron also excelled in the classroom. He was named a National Scholar-Athlete in 1972.
Continuing his football journey, Jauron was selected in the fourth round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. A defensive back in the pros, he spent five seasons in Detroit, followed by another three with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jauron was named to the 1974 Pro Bowl after leading the NFC in punt-return average.
From there, he became Coach Jauron for 28 seasons in the NFL as a defensive backs coach, defensive coordinator, and head coach of the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills.
And in 2001, the kid who attended Saint Pius V elementary school in Lynn was named the NFL’s Coach of the Year with the 13-3 Chicago Bears.
