Cleveland rocks, says the Drew Carey Show theme. Drew Davis, though, felt otherwise.

        The 8-year-old son of Butch Davis was awakened in his bedroom in Miami this January — his father saying he would not be the University of Miami football coach anymore. The family was moving to Cleveland.

        “The Cleveland Browns?” Drew said. “They stink.”

        Or rather, they did. Davis has turned the Browns (3-1) into one of the league's feel-good stories, one that hopes to write its next chapter Sun day in Paul Brown Stadium against the Bengals (2-2).

        In doing so, Davis had to change some mindsets, and not just in his family.

        “You have to change the perception from within of what this football team was,” Davis said. “So many people had labeled (the players) as losers — that the only reason they were in the league was that they were playing for Cleveland, an expansion franchise.”

        There are plenty of believers now. ESPN's Tom Jackson ranks the Browns 10th in his weekly team rankings. Bud Goode's mathematical formula calculates them at No.10 in his power ratings on RealTeam.com. Sports Illustrated's Peter King says Davis is a runaway choice for NFL Coach of the Year.

        Each week, the NFL conducts a conference call for the national media with one coach or player from each conference, generally the one generating the best buzz. This week, that was Davis.

        Bandwagon, anyone?

        “When you went through two years like we have (2-14 and 3-13), it definitely feels great to get on a win streak,” Browns quarterback Tim Couch said. “That said, I don't think we can get too cocky and start believing we're a great team.”

        What they are is a great defense — at least thus far — with an emerging offensive star in Couch.

        The Browns' defense ranks fifth in the NFL, and it has set a defiant tone the past two weeks with Gerard Warren's knockout of Jacksonville QB Mark Brunell (drawing a fine from the league office) and Corey Fuller's clothesline tackle of San Diego QB Doug Flutie.

        There's an attitude developing. Some Browns danced derisively on the Jaguars' midfield logo after their win at Jacksonville two weeks ago.

        For confidence, Davis credits key free agent signees — five of whom are starters — from winning programs. Linebacker Dwayne Rudd (from Minnesota) and offensive tackle Ross Verba (Green Bay) are the most notable.

        “I told the players in the first team meeting that I was not going to look at any of last year's films,” Davis said. “I was going to form my opinion about them as football players based on their work ethic, their practice habits, their offseason conditioning, their hungriness to learn the new stuff we were going to do.”

        The Cleveland offense ranks just 25th in the league, but it's successful when it needs to be. Couch is No.1 in the AFC in fourth-quarter passing with a rating of 106, as Cleveland has mounted late comebacks the past two weeks.

        Davis, who was a Dallas Cowboys assistant when Troy Aikman won two of his three Super Bowls, likens Couch to Aikman in taking over a struggling franchise.

        Couch doesn't have a reliable running game for protection, but he feels the offense is about to take off, much as the franchise seems to be.

        “This is a team that doesn't want to go back to where we were the last two years, so badly, that we'll do anything to win,” he said.

New coach, new success for Browns Time for practice to pay off

Xavier will hit court running
Logan ready to shoot or pass
Frazier finds his place at UC
Knight opens first season at Texas Tech
Pitino era at Louisville begins
UK fans greet basketball with high hopes
Cavs-Nets game tonight at Cintas
Miami on roll in MAC
Ohio State defense doing its job
Tested Tigers ready for UK
Baseball playoffs report
Lemon Monroe fifth in state golf tourney
Prep football page
St. Xavier 16, Elder 13
Bigger tests await Willingham
How Top 10 teams fared
Ohio football scores
Kentucky football scores
Indiana football scores
Anderson 29, Amelia 0
Batavia 18, Bethel Tate 8
Beechwood 42, Holy Cross 0
Bellevue 37, Ludlow 0
Boone County 17, Dixie Heights 13
Campbell County 28, Conner 13
Cin. Hills Christian Academy 33, Landmark Christian 16
Cincinnati Country Day 37, Lockland 6
Colerain 42, Middletown 0
East Central 31, La Salle 21
Goshen 21, Norwood 14
Hamilton 17, Oak Hills 14
Harrison 40, Mason 16
Hillsboro 14, Clinton Massie 10
Kings 34, Wilmington 14
Lakota East 21, Sycamore 20
Lebanon 24, Fairborn 0
Lloyd 33, Garrard County 10
Loveland 27, Little Miami 7
Madeira 21, Indian Hill 20
McNicholas 41, Badin 12
Milford 24, Fairfield 19
Moeller 20, Col. St. Francis De Sales 10
Mount Healthy 62, Shroder 0
New Richmond 50, Clermont Northeastern 12
NewCath 63, Dayton 8
North College Hill 49, New Miami 2
Princeton 30, Lakota West 21
Reading 42, Mariemont 6
Roger Bacon 20, Purcell Marian 10
Summit County Day 74, Yellow Springs 13
Talawanda 34, Edgewood 25
Taylor 33, Deer Park 6
Washington Court House 28, Jonathan Alder 15
West Carrollton 12, Monroe 6
Western Hills 27, Woodward 8
Williamsburg 66, Western Brown 8
Winton Woods 24, Turpin 7
Wyoming 49, Finneytown 20

• Return to Bengals front page...