Dick Jauron Fired By The Bills: Who Will Be Named His Successor?

Ralph Wilson finally had enough. He had seen the big billboard asking for Head Coach Dick Jauron to be fired. He had heard the chants in the stands calling for: "Dick Must Go".

We will never know, but maybe the final straw was seeing Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams flip off the Bills after Sunday's loss, and Ralph thought to himself, I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore".

Wilson fired Jauron today in a mid-week move. That is rare. Wilson is known to be cheap when it comes to paying coaches, much less firing one, and then needing to pay for two head coaches while he honors the remainder of Jauron's salary.

Ralph is probably trying to figure out if there is a way that he can get the NFL to funnel some of the quarter million dollar fine they collect from Bud Adams' gesture to help pay for the new coach.

So Who Will The Bills Name as New Interim Head Coach?

There are a myriad of possibilities, but realistically I only see one option happening. Bobby April. He has been the Assistant Head Coach for the team already. He has fire and passion, two things Dick Jauron had trouble demonstrating.

Bobby April knows the team, knows the players and knows the organization top to bottom. He has a loyal following of Bills fans that have been asking him to take over the team for a long time.

Another realistic choice is Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell. He also knows the organization and the players, but lacks the "Assistant Head Coach" title that April has.

Is April or Fewell the best choice? There are a number of more high profile choices available, but they would cost Wilson a lot more than April. Those other options range from John Gruden, Marty Schottenheimer, Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren, Bill Cowher, Brian Billick, Dennis Green, Jim Stassel, and Jim Haslett.

There are other names too, but how long of a laundry list do you want to kick around?

Out of the prior head coaches that are available I would love to see Tony Dungy come in and take on whatever job title/role he wants. My second choice after that would be Jon Gruden, followed by Jim Haslett (an ex-Buffalo Bill player).

Tony Dungy is somebody that everybody respects and is as solid a football mind as you can find. If Michael Vick will listen to him and do what Dungy tells him, don't you think that all of the various egos and personalities on the Bills (T.O. included) would fall in line with whatever Dungy is preaching?

If Bobby April is hired:

April will bring some immediate calm and restoring order for the organization something they need. His tenure could only last until the end of the season, when the Bills brain-trust determines that they need a head coach with experience and a track record of winning.

This also means that he is a marked man if the Bills do go outside the organization in the off-season, and if he is the interim head coach, he will be probably relieved of his duties by whoever takes over.

If the Bills name anyone from outside the organization:

If that happens, then it is not an interim tag, so expect a longer term contract for Mr. X. With that scenario, the coach will then be in a "What-do-we-have-to-work-with-here mode"?

That is a situation where everyone will see playing time, the wins and losses are irrelevant, and jobs are up in the air. Nobody is safe and big names could be dropped from the roster.

For the immediate future, the Bills for all intensive purposes have already been eliminated from the playoffs. The fans wanted change, and so now they have it.

The final seven games may not be very pretty, but they could be more entertaining. Don't be surprised if you see the Bills play out their schedule with more passion and fire.

I would also expect to see more imagination exhibited on offense, as the new coach will take off the training gloves and remove the "vanilla-Mickey-Mouse" tag from the offense.

Regarding immediate coaches decisions, expect to see both Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick play to determine if either of them will still be starting in 2010 until whatever quarterback they draft is deemed ready to take over the reigns.

Some player's attitudes will have to change quickly. T.O. in particular may either welcome the new coach with open arms, or will be shown the door if his attitude or body language shows that he really doesn't want to be there.

Stay tuned, as this promises to be an interesting week. What are your ideas for who the next head coach would or should be?