Actually, Wayne Fontes was QUITE capable. Sure, E-SPIN made a mockery of everything he did, but people looked at his teams as if they had just one player. He had quite a stretch of 10+ win squads and playoff runs- if you remember his Monday night game against the Cowboys- remember the turnovers forced- they were always well prepared in that regard. Lets remember he coached in the NFC in an era dominated by Dallas, NY, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco anddid quite well. Problem is that he coached in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Dick Jauron is not as good a coach as Fontes was, but he has been with two bad franchises. He had one winning season in Chicago, then lost his job to Lovie Smith- Smith significantly upgraded personnel when he got there- Thomas Jones is much better than Anthony Thomas and QB isn't even debatable. The Offensive and defensive lines have been in shambles in Buffalo for nearly a decade, which have hindered him, Williams and Mularkey and didn't help Levy or Phillips either.
Would firing Jauron be a ridiculous move? No, I can't say that it would be. Is it a smart move? I don't see how another coach could have gotten more out of the team than he has, so I'm not so sure it is smart, unless we have Cowher or Schottenheimer lined up, which won't happen.
I think the smart move is to get a good personnel staff headed by a GM.....something we haven't had in awhile. I would even take Tom Donahoe back.