Talk about impressive credentials.

The Eagles made official on Wednesday what was widely reported on Tuesday night. That Dick Jauron is the team's new Senior Assistant/Defensive Backs coach.

With 25 years of NFL coaching experience, including 10 years as a head coach for the Chicago Bears (1999-2003), Detroit Lions (2005) and Buffalo Bills (2006-09), Jauron has proven to be an accomplished defensive mind over the course of his career. He reunites with Andy Reid after the two coached together from 1992-94 with the Green Bay Packers.

Jauron originally began his coaching career as a defensive assistant for the Bills in 1985. The next year, he was named the Packers defensive backs coach and remained at that post for nine seasons from 1986-94 before joining the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars as their defensive coordinator in 1995. Jauron helped lead the Jaguars to three playoff appearances in four years from 1995-98, including an AFC Championship game appearance in 1996 and an AFC Central title in 1998.

He was named the head coach of the Bears in 1999 and earned Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year honors in his third season on the job in 2001. That year he led the team to their first NFC Central title since 1990 with a 13-3 record, joining George Halas, Mike Ditka and now Lovie Smith as the only coaches in franchise history to reach 13 wins in a single season. The Bears defense that season ranked first in the NFL in fewest points allowed (180) and second in rushing defense (1,313 yards allowed). They also accumulated five second half come-from-behind victories and posted an 8-0 record in games decided by seven points or less.

Jauron joined the Lions in 2004 as their defensive coordinator and eventually took over as interim head coach midway through the 2005 season. He was named the head coach of the Bills in 2006 and accumulated a 24-33 record in his three-plus seasons there from 2006-09.

A two-sport star in football and baseball, Jauron was drafted by both the Detroit Lions (fourth-round selection) and Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals in 1973. He played nine seasons at safety with the Lions (1973-77) and Cincinnati Bengals (1978-81) and earned a Pro Bowl berth in 1974 as a punt returner after leading the NFC in punt return average (16.8). He finished his career with 26 interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns. After retiring from the NFL, Jauron worked two years for Nautilus Sports Medical Industries before beginning his coaching career.

A graduate of Yale University with a bachelor's degree in history, Jauron holds several school rushing records, including most consecutive 100-yard rushing games (16).

The 59-year-old Jauron attended Swampscott High School (MA), where he was named one of the top ten prep athletes of the 20th century in the state of Massachusetts by the Boston Globe.

Jauron and his wife, Gail, have two daughters, Kacy and Amy.

-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 1:07 p.m., February 3