Steve Mariucci got animated today on NFL Network as he discussed the Buffalo Bills firing head coach Dick Jauron, saying Bills owner Ralph Wilson made the wrong move in getting rid of his coach.
“Does it bother me?” Mariucci said. “Yes, it bothers me a lot.”
Mariucci noted that he and Jauron are personal friends who have worked together and whose families have become close, so he’s not exactly an objective observer. But from where Mariucci sits, Jauron didn’t deserve to get canned while the season is still going on.
“My gripe is during the season,” Mariucci said. “What good is it during the season? Coaches getting fired at the end of the season is typical and probably more appropriate. The other thing that bothers me is, Is one man being gone going to make it better?”
Mariucci’s bottom line conclusion? “I think that organization made a bad move.”
Mariucci knows something about coaches getting fired during the season: In 2005, then-Lions President Matt Millen fired Mariucci during the regular season. Millen replaced Mariucci with his defensive coordinator, Dick Jauron.