Browns fire Chudzinski after one season
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Berea, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - The Cleveland Browns fired Rob Chudzinski on Sunday night, saying they didn't see enough improvement in his one season as coach.
The Browns announced Chudzinski was out just hours after a season-ending 20-7 loss to Pittsburgh dropped them to 4-12.
When Chudzinski was named coach in January, he said he looked forward to the opportunity to turn the team he rooted for growing up into a winner again.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}After 16 games, the Browns had apparently seen enough.
They lost their last seven.
"We appreciate Chud's passion for the Browns, and we have great respect for him both personally and professionally," the team said in a statement. "We needed to see progress with this football team. We needed to see development and improvement as the season evolved and, unfortunately, we took a concerning step backward in the second half of the year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Our fans deserve to see a consistently competitive team. We have high standards, and there's an urgency for success. When we believed we were not positioned to achieve significant progress in 2014, we knew we had to admit that a change was needed, and move forward.
"Browns fans are the most loyal and passionate supporters in the NFL. We're fully committed to bringing them the winning football team they deserve."
Chudzinski had two previous stints in the Browns organization, first as tight ends coach in 2004 and as offensive coordinator for two seasons from 2007-08. Before he was hired as Browns coach, he spent two seasons as the Carolina Panthers' offensive coordinator.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He was the sixth full-time head coach for the Browns since 1999 and took over for Pat Shurmur, who was fired at the conclusion of a 5-11 season.