BEREA, Ohio - As coach Butch Davis pulled out of the driveway at 76 Lou Groza Blvd. for the final time, he might have caught a glimpse of a brown-and-orange colored hearse across the street from Cleveland's team offices.

The vehicle was parked. Davis was the one moving on.

Three years after he promised to lead Cleveland to a Super Bowl title, Davis resigned Tuesday, leaving the last-place Browns in disarray and with five games still to play this season.

Record-wise, the Browns (3-8) don't appear to be much closer to being a championship team than before Davis arrived. He tried his best to make them winners, but had his successes undone by bad draft picks, injuries and tough losses.

Davis' departure came two days after the Browns dropped their fifth straight game, a 58-48 loss that followed a script similar to so many others in the Davis Era: close but not good enough.

With speculation running wild last week that he was on the verge of being fired, Davis got the support of team owner Randy Lerner, who promised to keep him through the end of this season.

His only way out would be if Davis resigned, and to the Browns' surprise, that's what he did.

"I'm not sure what changed," Lerner said. "My sense of it is that the whole environment had become very difficult to manage emotionally, and it was his sense that enough was enough."

First-year offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie will coach the Browns for the rest of the season. His first game won't be an easy one: The Browns host the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on Sunday.

"Coach Davis picked a hell of a week to make his decision," quipped Robiskie, who coached Washington for the final three games in 2000 after the Redskins fired Norv Turner.

Robiskie doesn't see his final five games as an audition to follow Chris Palmer and Davis as the Browns' third coach since 1999.

"I am not trying to win a game so that Mr. Lerner will say, 'Oh, yeah, he's the head coach,'" Robiskie said. "I am trying to win a game so that the fans of Cleveland, the fans in the Dawg Pound can stand up and cheer the way they did years and years ago."

Davis, who inherited a 5-27 team devoid of any depth or star players in 2001, went 24-36 during his stay in Cleveland. He led the Browns to a 9-7 record and a playoff appearance in 2002, his second season after leaving the University of Miami.

Since then, the Browns regressed, going 8-19 amid a string of close losses, costly injuries and chaos.

Davis had three years remaining on a contract worth about $12 million. Lerner refused to give details of a financial settlement, but intimated he will pay Davis the full amount left in his deal.

"I think he gave it everything he had, and that's all you can ask a guy to do," Lerner said.

Davis had unquestioned authority over the team's football operations department. But now that he's gone, Lerner plans to overhaul the front office. He will begin by hiring a general manager.

Lerner has studied the infrastructure at New England and Philadelphia and decided that's what he wants for the Browns.

"There is no magic," he said. "We need to concentrate on organizations that have been successful and we need to understand how and why they have been successful and we need to assume those practices. That's the first order of business."

Pressure had been mounting on Davis for weeks as the Browns' season crumbled with a score of injuries to key players and a handful of agonizing losses. Things got so difficult for Davis and his family last week that he sent his wife and 11-year-old son to Florida to avoid all the attention.

The Browns, just 29-62 since returning as an expansion franchise six years ago, have 13 players on injured reserve, including six starters.

Still, the signs of progress were small.

"Anytime you get four years, four years should be enough," tight end Aaron Shea said. "Injuries played a role but other teams have injuries, too. Maybe the change is for the best."

With the losses piling up, Davis' demeanor changed noticeably. His confidence had been shaken. He fought back tears when he told his players goodbye.

In a statement, Davis cited "intense pressure and scrutiny" as the driving forces behind his resignation.

"I accept responsibility for the mistakes that we have made," Davis said. "But it was my and my staff's intention to do everything we could to lay the foundation and build a team that could win a Super Bowl. I hope that some of my decisions we have made will be a part of a brighter future for the Browns organization."