Butch Davis out
 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1934933

Butch Davis is out as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Butch Davis
Davis
A source close to Davis told ESPN's Chris Mortensen that Davis was fired during a meeting with club officials late Monday night. Reached by phone this morning, Browns president John Collins said Davis resigned and was not fired.

There has been no decision on a replacement, but Mortensen is reporting that team owner Randy Lerner intends to meet with a group of Browns players to discuss who will be selected as the interim coach. Offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie and defensive coordinator Dave Campo are the leading candidates to take over as the interim coach for the rest of the season.

The Browns (3-8) are in last place in the AFC North and have lost five consecutive games.

Davis' departure comes a week after Mortensen reported that Lerner almost fired Davis after a loss to the Jets. The next day, the Browns put out a statement saying that the coaching staff would stay intact through the end of the season.

"Randy could not have been more direct or clear last week (Tuesday)," Collins told Mortensen, referring to the statement that Lerner put out saying Davis would be the coach for the rest of the season. Collins said Davis approached Lerner on Monday and told the owner that he felt he could not go on as head coach given that it had become clear that he would be fired at the end of the season.

Collins indicated the Browns would honor the four years remaining on Davis' contract.

Collins will address the media today at a 2 p.m. ET press conference at the team's training facility in Berea, Ohio.

Davis became the 10th full-time head coach of the Cleveland Browns on Jan. 30, 2001. In four seasons with the Browns (2001-04), Davis' teams went 24-35 (.407) in the regular season and qualified for the AFC playoffs with a 9-7 record in 2002.

There has been speculation that Davis will pursue a high-profile college job. One newspaper report said there is mutual interest between Davis and the University of Florida. Davis coached at the University of Miami before joining the Browns in 2001.

Robiskie is in his fourth season with the Browns, his first as offensive coordinator. His only NFL head coaching experience came with the Washington Redskins in 2000, when he coached the team's final three games after the departure of Norv Turner.

Campo, in his second season with the Browns, was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 2000 to 2002. The Cowboys went 15-33 under Campo.

Wonder if this means he'll be our coach...

That actually gets coaches fired?

another college coach down in flames...who's next?

resigned, fired... either way we know he did it because he knew he was going to be fired soon enough.

Dick Vermeil.

You know, most (if not all) coaches in the NFL have some sort of college coaching experience.

yes, but I'm talking about guys who skip the coordinator route in the NFL....I'm sure the success to failure ratio of heads coaches in college becoming head coaches in the NFL isn't much different than it is for coordinators moving into head coaching positions..but I've always had a bias against hiring college head coaches, not sure why..

Well DV was the first special teams coordinator/coach in 1969, so take it FWIW.

yeah, that was my point....he had NFL experience before becoming a head coach, but they probably all do somewhere...basically I just have a n irrational prejudice against hiring college HCs...

Yeah, I know where you're coming from, but there are some coaches in the NFL that came from the college level and still managed to be successful (I.E. Jimmy Johnson, Bill Walsh, etc)

However, that is to me, old school stuff. It seems to me that not many college football coaches are willing to take a job as a Special Teams, Offensive, or Defensive coordinator before becoming an head coach in today's time. In the past, you'd see plenty of that (Walsh, Vermeil, etc)

I think the only coach right off my head that has not been any kind of a head coaching job in the college level is Jon Gruden. He did coach at the college level, but as far as I'm concerned, it didn't say that he had a head coaching job in the college ranks.

This was taken from the AP newswire:

"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."

WOW! Sound familiar? :(

Not really. The Chiefs improved in year two of DV and then improved again in year 3 and went 13-3 winning the Division and securing a homefield playoff birth. Yeah we fugged it up but that's a far cry from what Butch did in Cleveland. He did get them a Wild Card birth in 2002 I think with a 9-6 or 8-8 record.

PhilFree :arrow:

That is what I was wondering if he would be Florida Gators new coach.

I was refering to the poor drafting.

Sure DV got us to 13-3. And what do we have to show for it? A SuperBowl hangover without even playing in the Superbowl.

Has Florida named a replacement yet? I'd look for Davis to return to the Sunshine state if he decides he wants to chew off a bit more.