Phil Savage Fired by Browns and Owner Randy Lerner

It is official. The Phil Savage era of Cleveland Browns football has ended. Phil Savage has been fired by the Cleveland Browns.

According to a report by Tony Grossi in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, owner Randy Lerner made the decision to fire Phil Savage before today’s 31-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Shortly after the Browns completed a 4-12 season with a 31-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Browns confirmed that Savage was fired.

Owner Randy Lerner made the decision prior to the game. A source said the decision was based on problems with Savage’s communication and leadership skills.”

According to reports that surfaced earlier today, Randy Lerner is focusing his initial efforts on bringing in either Scott Pioli of New England or Bill Cowher to be the new leader of the Browns football operations.

We’ll see. With the Patriots playoff hopes hanging in the balance right now, needing a Jets win over the Dolphins, the immediate availability of Scott Pioli is in question. And Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported earlier today that Bill Cowher has stated emphatically that he will not coach in 2009, but may in 2010.

Right now, too much is up in the air. But one thing is for sure: Lerner is ready to get on it. He reportedly has interviews scheduled all next week and obviously would like to a get GM in place to lead the coaching search and establish some continuity leading into the draft.

Part of the reason why Lerner was so quick to fire Phil Savage was the spate of bad PR that came upon the Browns this season that did not involve the team’s porous play on the field — and there was plenty of that. A quick rundown:

Phil Savage and Kellen Winslow Disagreement

Phil Savage Sends F-You Email to Fan

And, of course, there were the numerous thinly veiled shots at the coaching staff that, while probably true, are probably not going to make any future coaches want to play for Phil Savage.

Going back to watching the Dolphins game. I’ll have more later.