Cleveland Browns fire coach Mike Pettine after 3-13 season

CLEVELAND – The Browns have fired coach Mike Pettine following a 3-13 season.

Pettine went 10-22 in two years, dropping 18 of his final 21 games after a promising 7-4 start in 2014. The Browns announced Pettine’s firing – and the dismissal of general manager Ray Farmer – shortly after a 28-12 home loss to the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, who wiggled into the AFC playoffs.

Pettine’s job security had been in doubt for months, and not even owner Jimmy Haslam’s vow at the start of training camp not to “blow things up” could stop another regime change in Cleveland.

Pettine was the team’s seventh full-time coach since 1999.

A former defensive coordinator, Pettine’s ouster can be partly linked to the performance of his defense, which ranked at or near the bottom in the league in nearly every statistical category.