CLEVELAND (AP) — Rob Chudzinski’s dream job turned out to be temporary gig.TheBrowns fired
Chudzinski on Sunday night after just one season. It was astunningly swift and shocking exit for the Ohio
native who learned allabout sports heartbreak while cheering for Cleveland teams as a kid. Hewanted to be
the one to turn the Browns into consistent winners.Like five other coaches since 1999, he
failed.Nobodydiscards coaches quite like the Browns, who cited "a concerning stepbackward in the second
half of the year" in their decision to dumpChudzinski, who was let go just a few hours after a 20-7
loss inPittsburgh — the Browns’ seventh straight defeat and 10th in 11 games.TheBrowns have fired four
coaches since 2008, a disturbing trend thatperhaps best explains why the team has made the playoffs just
once sincetheir expansion rebirth 14 years ago. Chudzinski didn’t even have afull year to fix the Browns
(4-12), who have become one of the league’slaughingstocks because of the endless turmoil.While
introducingChudzinski on Jan. 10, owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner touted the45-year-old as one of the
game’s bright young offensive minds and theywere confident the lifelong Browns fan had the necessary skills
anddrive to turn the team into a consistent winner.Now, they’re looking for someone new. Chudzinski was let
go with three years left on his contract.TheBrowns scheduled a press conference for 12:30 p.m. Monday at
theirBerea, Ohio, headquarters to explain the decision to dismiss Chudzinski."Weappreciate Chud’s
passion for the Browns, and we have great respect forhim both personally and professionally," the team
said in anunattributed statement. "We needed to see progress with this footballteam. We needed to see
development and improvement as the season evolvedand, unfortunately, we took a concerning step backward in
the secondhalf of the year."Our fans deserve to see a consistentlycompetitive team. We have high
standards, and there’s an urgency forsuccess. When we believed we were not positioned to achieve
significantprogress in 2014, we knew we had to admit that a change was needed, andmove
forward."Although the Browns were 4-5 at their bye week, thefront office felt some of those wins were
misleading because they cameagainst inferior competition. But what concerned Cleveland’s decisionmakers most
was that the team seemed to regress over the final sevengames.The Browns lost a few close games, but also
dropped four bymore than 10 points in their seven-game slide and Cleveland’s frontoffice felt the team was
getting worse. Although Chudzinski was popularwith his players, he wasn’t getting the most out of them and
the Brownsfelt a change had to be made to get the team fixed as quickly aspossible — and to have the best
chance of landing a quality candidate.WithChudzinski gone, it’s likely coordinators Norv Turner and Ray
Hortonwill also be dismissed along with several other assistants.Cleveland’slatest coaching search is
already underway, with New England offensivecoordinator Josh McDaniels and Penn State coach Bill O’Brien
beingmentioned as leading candidates. O’Brien, who has also been linked tothe opening with the Houston
Texans, interviewed with the Browns lastyear but decided to stay with the Nittany Lions.Chudzinski hadplenty
to deal with as a rookie coach, including an unsettledquarterback situation as the Browns were forced to use
three startersbecause of injuries. The team also traded running back Trent Richardsonand never adequately
replaced him. The Browns didn’t give Chudzinskimuch help in the draft as No. 6 overall pick, linebacker
BarkeviousMingo, had a disappointing season and the acquisitions of high-pricedfree agents Paul Kruger and
Desmond Bryant didn’t lead to more wins.TheBrowns did have five players elected to the Pro Bowl, and wide
receiverJosh Gordon emerged as one of the league’s top playmakers. But thebottom line was that the Browns
didn’t win enough and it cost Chudzinskithe one coaching job he coveted most.Following Sunday’s loss,
several Browns players were dumbfounded when told Chudzinski could be fired."It’sridiculous,"
linebacker D’Qwell Jackson said. "Chud’s gonna be here foras long as he wants to. He’s a great head
coach and that’s all I’ve gotto say about that. That’s not going to happen."But it did, and the Browns
are back in familiar place.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.orgCopyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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