The Cleveland Browns fired coach Rob Chudzinski on Sunday night.
Less than a year after touting Chudzinski as one of the bright young coaches in the NFL and a guy CEO Joe Banner said he had his eye on for a long time, the Browns let him go after one season as coach.
A seven-game losing streak to end the season and a 4-12 overall mark apparently were too much to overcome.
The team released a statement with the announcement.
"We appreciate Chud's passion for the Browns, and we have great respect for him both personally and professionally," the statement, which was not attributed to any person, read. "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.
"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."
