The Cleveland Browns have fired head coach Mike Pettine after his second season on the job, per multiple media reports. A source told Chat Sports on Saturday that Pettine's ouster was a done deal.
"The team has taken a big step back this season," our source said. "There were too many games were uncompetitive for Haslam to have any confidence it will change next season."
General manager Ray Farmer was also axed by owner Jimmy Haslam on Sunday, with the announcement coming in the wake of the team's 28-12 season-closing loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Farmer was suspended for the first four games of this season after a NFL investigation proved that he was sending texts to coaching staff discussing play-calling during games, which violated the league's electronic device policy.
Here's Jimmy Haslam's official statement on the firings, courtesy of NFL Network's Desmond Purnell:
#Browns Owner Jimmy Haslam statement on parting ways with Farmer and Pettine pic.twitter.com/ON68M29a7f
— Desmond Purnell (@DesmondPurnell) January 4, 2016
As recently as a couple of weeks ago, there were rumors swirling around Cleveland was that Farmer would be fired and Pettine would be retained under a new head of the front office. However, a 10-22 overall record and 3-13 mark in 2015 was ultimately too much for him to overcome. The defense, expected to take a major leap forward under Pettine, was an absolute mess this year -- leading to huge problems as the team's quarterback situation was in flux all season long and the offense did very little to pick the D up.
Pettine is the fourth straight coach to fail to make it to a third season for Cleveland. No Browns head coach has lasted into his third year since Romeo Crennel lasted four years from 2005 to 2008.
Sources told our Mack Ferguson earlier during the season that the Browns would target Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer. While there is no new information regarding the Browns' pursuit of Meyer, he did tell reporters that a team had reached out to him.
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