Butch Davis Fired

[dreamgirl]

Hi, heard this morning that he was gone... I don't think that this will really impact the team... anyone else?

[dreamgirl]

guess he wasn't fired, he resigned...

[bad14u]

I haven't heard anything! I'll have to check it out!

[Tinfish]

This will pave the way for Davis to go coach Florida Gators. It is the best thing for both teams.

[urso8up]

The speculation is finally over in Cleveland for Butch Davis.

FOXSports.com has learned that Davis has resigned as head coach and head of football operations for the Browns today, just one week after the team announced he would not be fired this season. The Browns are adamant that they have not fired Davis but this is completely his decision.
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The Browns (3-8) lost their fifth straight game on Sunday, 58-48 at Cincinnati, and are in fourth place in the AFC North. The team went 24-36 and made the playoffs just once in Davis' four seasons as head coach.

Nearly two months ago the team decided to at the very least strip the Browns' top dog of his general manager duties — the two have since hired a head hunter to help owner Randy Lerner and President John Collins do preliminary leg work on potential GM replacements.

The decision that Davis would be out as head coach after the year came soon after and nearly came to a head last Sunday night. However, no change was ultimately made — until today.

"I accept responsibility for the mistakes that we have made," Davis said, "but it was my and my staff's intention to do everything we could to lay the foundation and build a team that could win a Super Bowl. I hope that some of my decisions we have made will be a part of a brighter future for the Browns organization.

"My future is clear for the moment. I have no immediate plans to stay in coaching."

Davis and team brass met late last night and came to the agreement it was time to move on to pursue a college job.

Lehrner will meet with players today and then with the coaches before deciding upon the interim head coach. Defensive coordinator Dave Campo and offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie are both considered since they have already served in such a capacity once before.

Davis' resignation marks the final piece for removing the last remnant of the previous regime, a regime that never brought the Browns back to the prominence they had prior to moving to Baltimore.

Lehrner and Collins now have a clear pallet from which to work from in reversing the Browns' fortunes. The duo will look to hire a GM and a strong personnel department, something they've lacked since the Browns returned to Cleveland. They also plan to let the GM hire the next head coach.

The Browns job may be the most enticing for a GM candidate in all of football. They have a young owner who is willing to spend and is the opposite of Dan Snyder, Al Davis and the like and never meddles in the football aspect of the business. They have a president in Collins whose expertise is business and marketing and also has no aspirations to be a "football" guy. Thus, whoever moves to Cleveland to run the football side of the business will have no interference from top brass.

In addition, the city itself is a very attractive selling point to any GM candidate and coach. It's a pure football city with extremely passionate fans. While some cities are more baseball or NCAA basketball cities, Cleveland is all about its NFL team.

Davis' relationship with his players and the fans have grown increasingly tense in recent weeks. Prior to last Sunday's loss, fans were seen outside the stadium sporting t-shirts asking for his firing. Players are also said to have lost trust in their head man. Considering the tradition of one of the great football towns in the country, his relationship with both facets were deemed unacceptable by management.

Davis was on Cleveland's sideline when Browns fans rioted by throwing thousands of bottles on the field in 2001 and when linebacker Dwayne Rudd threw his helmet in the 2002 opener, costing the Browns a victory.

On Monday, Davis recounted some of those moments.

"In four years," he said, "I have seen some of the most bizarre things."

Asked if he planned to stay with the Browns, Davis said, "Sure. Absolutely."

When he joined the Browns in 2001, Davis promised to lead Cleveland to the Super Bowl. But after a tenure marked by some poor drafting, he leaves far short of that goal, and the team doesn't seem any closer to a title than when Davis arrived.

Davis, who helped restore the University of Miami's program before joining the Browns in 2001, could be a candidate for the job opening at Florida.
Davis resigns as Browns' head coach

[Scotland]

Oh yes! It is finally over. The regime from hell.

[mastakillah]

geezuss, i hate to admit it, but i've been a browns fan since i knew what football was.

hopefully they can get someone in there that will atleast lead them to a respesctable season!