The amazing journey: what kind of a leader was Chicago's Dick Jauron? He engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in recent NFL history - Coach of the Year

COACH OF THE YEAR? WHO would have figured? A lot of people around the league thought Dick Jauron simply would be lucky to have a job by the end of the 2001 season.

But pro football is a funny business these days. Rags-to-riches stories have become commonplace in the era of free agency and the salary cap, and Jauron added another one to the book, transforming the Chicago Bears from perennial losers into Super Bowl contenders. During an unforgettable season of magical moments and miraculous comebacks, Jauron led the Bears to a 13-3 record and their first NFC Central championship since 1990.

He also achieved the greatest single-season turnaround in the franchise's storied 82-year history. The Bears had never improved by more than five victories from one season to the next, but they made an eight-game leap in 2001.

For those reasons, Jauron is FOOTBALL DIGEST's 2001 Coach of the Year. He barely beat out Bill Belichick, who, like Jauron, had a worst-to-first season, with the New England Patriots in the AFC East.

"He told us in the beginning of training camp that we're not going to lose anymore, and that's the bottom line," says Bears safety Mike Brown.

Jauron, a Pro Bowl safety in 1974 with the Detroit Lions, deflects any of the praise that has come his way. He believes Chicago's success was a group effort. "Any personal awards, I'm very flattered by them," he says. "But I would accept any of them on behalf of the football players and the staff first and foremost and the whole organization after that."

Jauron was hired by the Bears in 1999 after spending four seasons as defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Prior to that, he was an assistant with the Buffalo Bills (1985) and the Green Bay Packers (1986-94). In 2001, he coached the Bears to their first playoff berth since 1994 and their first winning season since 1995. Chicago became the first team in NFL history to win a division championship after four straight last-place finishes.

"It definitely beats losing," Jauron says. "Any time you put 13 wins together in a regular season, that's a tremendous achievement for these players, for the coaches, and the whole organization. The thing that I like about what's happened this year is that we've done this thing as a team. On the field, off the field, as a coaching staff--it's all been a cooperative push from everybody."

A 19-45 record from 1997 through 2000 prompted the Bears to hire their first general manager in 14 years. Jerry Angelo came on board in June 2001 and was given complete authority over football operations, including the hiring and firing of coaches. While Jauron was assured of being retained for 2001, the common perception was that Angelo would bring in his own coach after that.

Angelo ultimately committed to Jauron, announcing on December 24 that the coach would return for the final year of his contract in 2002 and negotiations for an extension would begin after the 2001 season. "I can't be any happier in terms of the work he and his staff have done," Angelo said at the time. "I feel very comfortable with them. I've been very impressed with what Dick and his staff have done this season. Dick has shown to be a real team player. I'll go a long way for a guy like that."

Players also went a long way for Jauron. In his first two seasons as coach, the Bears were 1-9 in games following a victory and 1-16 when they trailed entering the fourth quarter. In 2001, they followed a loss with winning streaks of six, three, and four games and, for the first time since 1988, didn't have back-to-back defeats.

They won five games in which they trailed entering the fourth quarter, and their resiliency resulted in some fantastic finishes, including back-to-back wins in overtime, against the San Francisco 49ers and then the Cleveland Browns: In the San Francisco game, Chicago overcame a 289 third-quarter deficit to win 37-31. And against Cleveland, the Bears scored two touchdowns in the final 28 seconds of regulation to force overtime and ultimately produce a 27-21 win.

The Bears adopted an "us against the world" mentality that fueled their resurgence. All season long, they were united against critics who had predicted yet another last-place finish. Players almost seemed to enjoy discussing the lack of respect they received.

"That's the best thing," star middle linebacker Brian Urlacher said after the Bears clinched a playoff berth with a 27-3 pasting of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "Nobody outside this locker room gave us a chance." Added quarterback Jim Miller: "I think it's a consensus in our offensive room that you can all kiss our ass in the middle of Main Street, and we'll give you an hour to draw a crowd if you want."

To most outsiders, a six-game winning streak early in the season was the first indication that this would be a stunning turnaround for the Bears. But Jauron had good vibes even before that streak began. He was impressed with the resolve his players displayed following a disappointing 17-6 season-opening loss to the defending Super Bowl-champion Ravens in Baltimore. The, Bears had stumbled to 0-4 starts in three of the previous four seasons, but everyone around the team seemed to know that 2001 would be different.

"[The Ravens] are a fine football team, and they beat us," Jauron says, "but after that game all I sensed was bitter disappointment. I didn't sense a group of guys that thought, `Here we go again.'"

Veteran defensive tackles Ted Washington and Keith Traylor, both acquired in the offseason, meshed with promising young stars Urlacher and Brown to give the Bears a dominant big-play defense that allowed just 18 TDs after surrendering 40 in 2000. In signing the two behemoth run-stuffers, the Bears appeared to be copying the blueprint of the Ravens. A defense that featured massive tackles Tony Siragusa and Sam Adams and Pro Bowl middle linebacker Ray Lewis led Baltimore to the Super Bowl 35 championship. "The addition of Keith and Ted made a big difference because that kind of made teams one-dimensional with them shutting down the run," says linebacker Rosevelt Colvin.

Chicago allowed the fewest points (203) and the second-fewest rushing yards (1,313) in the NFL. The latter total broke the team record for a 16-game season of 1,319 set by the 1985 Super Bowl champions. The opportunistic defense also scored five touchdowns, followed by a sixth in a 33-19 divisional playoffs loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Everywhere you looked, the Bears were making the most of what they had. Deep threat Marcus Robinson sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 5, but Marty Booker filled the void by emerging as a go-to receiver. The 1999 third-round pick set a team record with 100 receptions for a career-high 1,071 yards and eight TDs. Running back Anthony Thomas, a second-round pick from Michigan, established a Bears rookie record with 1,183 yards and seven TDs on 278 carries (a 4.3 per-carry average). A superb special teams unit was an integral part of Chicago's success. Punter Brad Maynard and kicker Paul Edinger set team records with an NFL-best 36 punts inside the 20 and an 83.9 success rate on field goal attempts, respectively.

The Bears went five seasons without sending a player to the Pro Bowl before return specialist Glyn Milburn ended the drought in 1999. Urlacher was Chicago's only representative a season later, but this year the floodgate opened. The Bears had five players in the Pro Bowl for the first time since 1992, including Urlacher, Washington, center Olin Kreutz, right offensive tackle James "Big Cat" Williams, and special teams standout Larry Whigham.

While the marquee players performed the way they were supposed to, the lesser-known figures were just as pivotal to Chicago's success. Jauron and his assistants had all 53 men on the roster prepared to fill the void when injuries knocked starters out of the lineup. "What our staff has done this season speaks for itself," Angelo says. "I know San Francisco and Pittsburgh had Cinderella stories, but they didn't come into the same situation. Our staff rose to the occasion."

When Thomas was sidelined with a sore hamstring in a Sunday night game against the Minnesota Vikings late in the season, reserve James Allen rushed for 107 yards to help produce a 13-6 win. In that same contest, seldom-used defensive back Mike Green registered 12 tackles, forced a fumble, and added a tackle on special teams in his most extended action in two seasons.

When receiver Dez White was injured in a Friday practice, D'Wayne Bates stepped in two days later and had four receptions for 107 yards, including the first touchdown of his career, in a 24-0 victory against the Lions at Detroit. How surprising was Bates' performance? Consider that he entered that Week 15 game with season totals of just one catch for three yards. "The bar is set very high," offensive coordinator John Shoop said during Chicago's miraculous run. "Nobody wants to be the guy that lets this team down."

The Bears ultimately failed in their quest to reach the Super Bowl, but that doesn't detract from what the team accomplished. After all, who in their right mind would have even mentioned "the Bears" and "Super Bowl" in the same sentence before the season began?

"To me, this team was very special," Jauron says. "Their closeness was very special. The way they rallied was special. The way they worked was special. You know that they're not going to be together again. Most of them will be back, but not all of them. It's the way our lives are--it's the way our business is. That's an empty feeling because this was a group I will remember forever.

"Did we get it all done? No, we didn't. But what a remarkable journey."

More Notables

HERE ARE OUR OTHER AWARD WINNERS from the 2001 season:

ROOKIE COACH OF THE YEAR

Butch Davis, Browns. Unlike last season--which featured winning records from Jim Haslett, Al Groh, Mike Sherman, and Mike Martz--the rookie crop this year didn't put up big numbers. Of the four men in their first full season as a head coach. Herman Edwards of the New York Jets was the only one to finish over .500. Still, the won-loss column doesn't begin to tell the story when it comes to the job Davis did with the Browns. After inheriting a team in complete disarray, one that had a total of just five victories in its first two seasons, the former University of Miami coach immediately put his stamp on the operation. Playing with newfound aggressiveness, purpose, and confidence, the Browns were playoff contenders up until the last few weeks of the season and finished a near-respectable 7-9. Once Davis adds a few more playmakers to the offense, Cleveland should become one of the top teams in the league.

ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR

Lovie Smith, defensive coordinator, Rams. Smith's mission was simple when he was hired in the offseason: to make the Rams defense respectable. When all was said and done, he had done much more than that. Under Smith's watch, the Rams went from No. 23 in total defense in 2000 to No. 3. The defense's dismantling of the Green Bay Packers in the divisional playoffs was emblematic of how it had played throughout the regular season.

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

Mark Hatley, Bears. We know, we know--this appears to be a strange pick, seeing as Hatley now works in the Packers front office. But take a closer look, and you'll realize it makes perfect sense. Most Bears fans were glad when Hatley left for Green Bay soon after running the Bears' 2001 draft, citing the two major blunders of his four-year stewardship in Chicago: the drafting of Curtis Enis and Cade McNown. But following a 2001 season in which the Bears defied all expectations, a lot of those fans wish he were back in Chicago. Many of the players central to the Bears' success were brought in by Hatley, including Brian Urlacher, Anthony Thomas, Ted Washington, Keith Traylor, R.W. McQuarters, Rosevelt Colvin, Warrick Holdman, Marty Booker, Mike Brown, Brad Maynard, Jim Miller, Olin Kreutz, and Tony Parrish. That's quite a roll call.--William Wagner

FOOTBALL DIGEST's Coaches of the Year

Year   Coach                                  Team

2001   Dick Jauron                   Chicago Bears
2000   Andy Reid               Philadelphia Eagles
1999   Dick Vermeil                 St. Louis Rams
1998   Dan Reeves                  Atlanta Falcons
1997   Marty Schottenheimer     Kansas City Chiefs
1996   Dom Capers                Carolina Panthers
1995   Ray Rhodes              Philadelphia Eagles
1994   Bill Parcells          New England Patriots
1993   Dan Reeves                  New York Giants
1992   Bobby Ross               San Diego Chargers
1991   Jimmy Johnson                Dallas Cowboys
1990   Don Shula                    Miami Dolphins
1989   Lindy Infante             Green Bay Packers
1988   Mike Ditka                    Chicago Bears
1987   Jim Mora                 New Orleans Saints
1986   Bill Parcells               New York Giants
1985   Mike Ditka                    Chicago Bears
1984   Chuck Knox                    Seattle Hawks
1983   Joe Gibbs               Washington Redskins
1982   Joe Gibbs               Washington Redskins
1981   Bill Walsh              San Francisco 49ers
1980   Chuck Knox                    Buffalo Bills
1979   Dick Vermeil            Philadelphia Eagles
1978   Walt Michaels                 New York Jets
1977   Red Miller                   Denver Broncos
1976   Chuck Fairbanks        New England Patriots
1975   Ted Marchibroda             Baltimore Colts
1974   Don Coryell             St. Louis Cardinals

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