The Bills have fired head coach Dick Jauron, the team confirmed Tuesday.

“I am announcing today that I am relieving Dick Jauron from his duties as our head coach, effective immediately," said owner Ralph Wilson Jr. in a team statement. "I have tremendous respect for Dick and thank him for all of his efforts during these past four years. While this was a very difficult decision, I felt that it is one that needed to be made at this time for the best interest of our team. We will now focus on moving forward and preparing for our game this week in Jacksonville.”

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell will reportedly take over as the team's interim head coach.

Since taking over as the Bills' head man in 2006, Jauron led the team to a 24-33 record, never finishing better than 7-9 in a season. The team is 3-6 in 2009 with an offense and a defense both ranked in the league's bottom 10.

Already on the hot seat coming into the season, Jauron was deemed by many a "dead man walking" after Buffalo's slow start. His inability to get the team on the same page was what likely did him in, in the end.

The PFW spin

Nobody expected Dick Jauron to return to Buffalo in 2010. Since his hire in '06, the Bills have been the very picture of NFL mediocrity, finishing 7-9 in each of his first three seasons. During his tenure, the Bills had never been serious postseason contenders.

With expectations higher in '09 after the team improved its personnel this past offseason, the pressure was on Jauron from Day One to finally get his club to the playoffs. But thanks to a number of factors, he failed to get the franchise on track this season.

The problems started with his firing of offensive coordinator Turk Schonert right before the start of the regular season, a move that left the Bills' offense without a sense of identity. New coordinator Alex Van Pelt still hasn't been able to solve that problem, as the unit hasn't been able to do much in either the running or passing attack. It hasn't helped that the quarterbacks, whether it be Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick, haven't lived up to expectations, each struggling throughout the campaign.

The defense hasn't been much better, especially against the run — the Bills rank dead last in that category. But injuries have riddled that side of the ball, at linebacker and safety in particular. Without it ever being at full strength, the "D" wasn't able to develop any sort of chemistry, which has been obvious in game action. Whether it was fair or not, Jauron likely was blamed for this shortcoming.

While the fact that Jauron was fired doesn't come as much of a shock, the timing of the decision is a bit surprising. He figured to make it through the end of the season before being given the pink slip. Instead, he was handed his walking papers with seven weeks remaining.

Sources say that it was likely an incident that happened in the past couple of days that caused owner Ralph Wilson Jr. to abruptly dismiss Jauron. One possibility involves the public sideline spat between WR Terrell Owens and assistant coaches during Sunday's loss to the Titans. Not someone who stands for that sort of behavior, Jauron could have been ready to hand down a suspension to Owens for his actions; Wilson might not have been supportive of such a decision, causing a butting of heads and possibly resulting in Jauron's firing.

For now, it appears the Bills will move forward with Perry Fewell as their interim coach. With 12 years of NFL coaching experience, he should be able to guide the team for the remaining seven contests. At 3-6 with no material improvement in sight, it's not like they'll be contending for a playoff spot.

The more interesting thing will be how Wilson handles the head-coaching position after the season. With a number of accomplished, big-name coaches on the market, it's likely that the Bills will make a play for one of them. Not having made the postseason since 1999, the franchise is in desperate need of a proven leader, and there will be no shortage of them out there in 2010.

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