1. Cade McNown
The punk QB was the hood ornament for Dick Jauron’s ill-fated regime: bad luck, injuries, erratic play and poor decisions under center and off the field. Whether by choice or because he was ordered to, as his players believed, Jauron stayed with McNown through most of 2000. McNown’s 1-8 record as the starter contributed to a 5-11 overall mark, a one-game decline from Jauron’s first year, and helped usher in the hiring of Jerry Angelo as general manager.
2. Jerry Angelo
It was never a question of whether Angelo would fire Jauron, but when. Angelo did not want Jauron as his coach. The 13-3 record in 2001 simply bought Jauron some time. Negotiations for a contract extension were so acrimonious Jauron contemplated leaving anyway. Angelo simply announced the decision Monday.
3. Circumstances
Jauron’s fate may well have been decided during his hiring. President Michael McCaskey hired him, but only after mishandling the process so badly McCaskey was replaced, leaving successor Ted Phillips with a coach he didn’t hire. In January 2001, Jauron was left with only John Shoop to take the offensive coordinator’s job because of uncertainty about Jauron’s future.
4. Intangibles
Fans want to love their Bears, but Jauron gave them too few reasons. Too often he failed to inspire not only his team but also the city, something even Dave Wannstedt managed in his early years, Mike Ditka did every year and others managed to varying degrees.
5. Himself
Jauron’s teams fell to the occasion too often, and disasters against San Francisco, Detroit and Green Bay this year were stinging indictments of his ability to prepare a team, his No. 1 responsibility. He was bedeviled by nearly annual quarterback crises and exacerbated them with questionable decisions in his first two years.
