Head Coach Rob Chudzinski and his team walked off the field for the final time in 2013, allowing their division foe to breathe playoff life for a few hours more.
Jets Owner Woody Johnson made the announcement minutes after his team finished their season at 8-8 with a win in Miami: Rex Ryan would be returning as Jets head coach in 2014.
Cleveland's "process" didn't go down quite so smoothly.
After a day's worth of rumors surrounding "bad vibes" and "turmoil," NFL reporters tweeted texts from players deriding the organization and/or Chudzinski and foretelling his demise.
Before he left Berea, the Browns made it official and fired Chudzinski after just one season on the job.
Chudzinski held the title of Browns head coach for just 352 days.
What was a dream come true on Jan. 11 turned into a nightmare by Dec. 30.
A somewhat promising start spiraled downward with the team losing its last seven games.
The Browns released a statement Sunday night that included the line: "We have high standards, and there's an urgency for success."
Go back to Chudzinski's introductory news conference on that early January 2013 day and you'll get a much different tone.
"Joe [Banner] and I have both come from organizations where there has been little change in terms of leadership. This organization has had a lot of change in terms of leadership. We wanted to spend a little bit more time," Owner Jimmy Haslam said of the interview process, which ended with Chudzinski getting hired.
One season at the helm, a second major leadership change already awaiting on the horizon.
But what Haslam and company expected to get from Chudzinski they obviously did not get.
"Everywhere Rob has been, the quarterback has gotten dramatically better," Haslam said of Chudzinski.
That certainly did not happen in Cleveland in 2013. Then again, Chudzinski also went through three quarterbacks, the one who appeared the most successful (albeit in a small sample size) lost to a season-ending injury.
For the Jets, Ryan came into the season with a huge target on his back. Before it even began, he was maligned when Mark Sanchez, who may have been his starting quarterback, was injured while playing during the second half of a preseason game against the Giants.
Some called for his head right at that moment. I was skeptical of Ryan's decision-making at the time.
However, Ryan's fate, and the Jets' approach on this season's final Sunday could not have been a more stark contrast from the Browns.
While Ryan has been a pariah to some for his blusterous attitude, he earned what seemed to be universal support from his players and won eight games with a team critics predicted would win three or four.
Ryan certainly presented fodder for firing: his six seasons have been a rollercoaster ride, the GM who he began with was axed and a new regime can often spell doom for an incumbent head coach.
But instead, of cutting the cord on Ryan, the Jets took the path of patience and continuity.
"We're confident that, with the leadership of General Manager John Idzik, working closely with Rex, we will enter 2014 with great opportunities to improve. We have the resources in place to continue to build our team, including more draft picks and roster flexibility than in previous years. In short, we're on the right path. We are going to continue to move forward together, always looking to be better and stronger, building on our successes and learning from our failures," Woody Johnson wrote in a letter to season ticket holders.
The Browns also have plenty of draft picks but Chudzinski won't get another chance to learn from the failures of his first season as an NFL head coach.
Ryan will be the guy the Jets entrust with leading them forward, despite his inability to get the Jets over .500 in each of the last three seasons.
Is there a black-and-white, right-or-wrong answer when it comes to which approach is best?
No -- NFL coaching decisions are far from an exact science.
Where Cleveland goes next with its new leader and New York its grizzled guy will decide how this day goes down in these franchises' histories, whether the path proves prosperous or plighted with pitfalls.
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