SWAMPSCOTT — Dick Jauron, who died early Saturday morning at age 74 shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, checked off a lot of boxes, but you wouldn’t have known by talking to him.
“You’ll hear the same thing over and over. He was a super athletic guy, but one of the most decent, unassuming superstars you’re ever going to encounter,” said Jauron’s brother, Bob, who was shocked and devastated by the news. “There’s nothing fake about it. He always deflected anything about himself.”
Jauron was named NFL Coach of the Year in 2001 with the Chicago Bears, broke records as a player at both Swampscott High and Yale University, and coached for 28 NFL seasons.
More importantly, he did it with class and character.
“He would never talk to you about him,” Bob said. “He was a quiet leader who led by example.”
Jauron grew up in Lynn before moving to Swampscott, where the 6-foot, 190-pound letterman (football, basketball, baseball) created a lasting legacy at Swampscott High.
He was a star running back for the Big Blue from 1966-68, compiling 3,284 yards rushing across three seasons and sporting a 16-0 record as an upperclassman. He averaged 121 yards per game, scored 140 points during his senior season, holds the school record for touchdowns scored, and captured a Class B state championship in 1968.
Swampscott sported a 25-2 record with Jauron in uniform.
“He was just outstanding. Even as a sophomore, he was the guy,” said Bob, 76, who played high school sports with his brother for one year.
From there – with colleges such as Harvard and Princeton on his radar – Jauron 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 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, a two-sport college star (baseball), also excelled in the classroom and was named a National Scholar-Athlete in 1972.
Jauron – choosing football over baseball, as the shortstop was also drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals – was selected in the fourth round (91st overall) of the 1973 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
A defensive back in the pros, Jauron (25 career INTs) spent five seasons in Detroit, followed by three with the Cincinnati Bengals. He 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.
He coached defensive backs in Green Bay and became friends with current Kansas City Chiefs Coach Andy Reid, a former offensive line and tight ends coach with the Packers.
In 1995, Jauron was hired by Tom Coughlin – a two-time Super Bowl champion head coach of the New York Giants – as the defensive coordinator for the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars.
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. It was the greatest one-year turnaround in Bears’ history.
After retiring from coaching, Jauron and his wife, Gail, moved to Swampscott, where his daughter, Kacy, also lives.
“In some ways, he was just like his mother (Kay),” Bob said. “She always said, and he always remembered, ‘The best gift is a good example.’”
