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Carolina Panthers have hired Jeff Davidson as their offensive coordinator after Dan Henning was fired. Davidson was the Cleveland Browns' assistant head coach / offensive line coach.

Panthers also announced that Dave Magazu would be taking over as offensive line coach after they fired Mike Maser. Magazu was the tight ends coach since 2003. Panthers have had a disappointing season and failed to make it to the playoffs with 8-8. These changes in the coaching is perceived as a shakeup.

With Davidson's inclusion in the Panthers, coach John Fox is giving indications that he would now want the Panthers to concentrate on the running game. Davidson is 39 years old and before he joined the Cleveland Browns, he spent eight seasons as the tight end / assistant offensive line coach with New England. During that time, Corey Dillon rushed for 1,635 yards with the Patriots winning the Super Bowl in 2004.

In 2005, Davidson joined Cleveland as the offensive coordinator for the last 10 games of the season. However, earlier in January 2007, Davidson handed over the mantle to Rob Chudzinski who he took as his replacement.

Dan Henning was constantly criticized for being too conservative and not involving receiver Steve Smith enough in offense. The Panthers averaged just over 16 points a game which is eight less than what they averaged in 2005 when they lost to Seattle in NFC championship game. Besides this, the Panthers have been coping with a lot of injuries.

Davidson, who wrested the job from Panthers quarterbacks coach Mike McCoy and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback coach Ken Zampese, said that he was extremely excited about joining the Panthers and is looking forward to the challenge.

About the writer: Nigel Kerry is an American free lance writer born in Los Angeles, California. Kerry writes among others for Sportus.com - sports betting Odds and sportsbook, as well as Filmzone.com, a site dedicated to texas holdem poker