Jon Gruden hasn’t been a head coach in the National Football League since working with the Las Vegas Raiders up until 2021, but that may change this year. According to NFL Network’s insider Tom Pelissero, more than one team is doing extensive work on the Super Bowl winning coach in search of finding a new captain to steer their ship.
“Keep an eye on Jon Gruden,” Pelissero said in response to a question asking which ‘surprise name’ the NFL-world may hear in contention for a head coaching gig.
“I can tell you, there are multiple teams that have been doing extensive homework on Jon Gruden’s situation, him as a coach, him as a person. I would not be surprised at all if in the coming weeks we see Gruden’s name popping up, interviewing for a head coaching job.”
Don’t be surprised if one of those teams are the Las Vegas Raiders, either.
Las Vegas’ head coaching position officially became available after the team parted ways with Antonio Pierce on Tuesday. While names such as Mike Vrabel and Liam Coen are being floated around for the position, one should pay close attention to Gruden.
Here’s what we know: Gruden loves those he has a connection with, and Mark Davis, the controlling-owner of the Silver and Black, is a big fan of the two-time Raiders coach–to say the least.
The [potential] return of Jon Gruden
Gruden has consistently proved he’s a fan of situations he has familiarity with since rejoining the National Football League as a coach.
Back in 2017, one year before accepting a lucrative deal from Davis to coach for the Raiders, Gruden was certain he wouldn’t return to coaching anytime soon. In an interview with ESPN in August of 2017, the now-61-year-old made that much clear.
“I don’t foresee myself coaching anytime soon,” Gruden told Jenna Laine of ESPN. However, the soon-to-be Raiders coach did note his continuous studies of players and personnel, film breakdown, and even the playbooks he was still making. It was as if he never left coaching, which Gruden described as an ‘edge’ to his broadcasting.
Gruden did want to eventually return to the NFL as a head coach, but in the right situation. Presented with the chance to lead the Raiders, a team he had previously coached long ago that has a controlling-owner who he was familiar with, the opportunity was too good to pass up. The 10-year, $100 million deal didn’t hurt, either.
That’s where he would stay up until 2021, when he was forced to resign his position due to the findings of inappropriate emails he had written some time ago.
Parting ways with Gruden was the last thing Mark Davis wanted to do. Actually, Davis had interest in bringing Gruden back to the Raiders since the day he took over as controlling-owner of the NFL’s iconic Silver and Black team. So much so, that Davis referred to the hire as “A dream come true” and “Biggest day of my life.”
Davis had been chasing Gruden since the very first year he took over as chairman of the Raiders franchise.
The start of Mark Davis and Jon Gruden
“That started six years ago with me,” Davis answered when asked about how long the team had interest in Gruden.
Mark’s first phone call to Gruden was made immediately after the hiring of Reggie McKenzie in January of 2012. Ever since, it’s been one man chasing the dream head coach of his football team.
If that doesn’t say all there is to know about Davis’ admiration for Gruden, this next bit will: According to Davis, although he can’t say for certain since he wasn’t actually put in the situation, he assumes he would have fired Jack Del Rio once Gruden finally agreed to coach the Raiders regardless of how the 2017 season went. He wanted Gruden that bad.
With a 10-year, $100 million deal on the table for Gruden, Davis certainly put his money where his mouth was.
Where did this deep admiration come from?
Well, many things contributed to it. For starters, Davis recalls the fire Gruden coached with during his initial tenure with the Raiders. He felt Gruden was “a good representation of what the Raiders are all about.”
Mark also sees a lot of a certain Raiders icon in the Super Bowl winning coach. “I see a lot of my dad in him,” Davis said of Gruden. “The passion for the game.”
Davis’ plan with Gruden was to gradually rebuild the Raiders in head coach’s image; not expecting immediate success, but rather sustained improvement over the years. And, to Gruden’s credit, that’s exactly what he did.
The “resignation” Mark Davis never wanted
In his first season back with the Raiders, Gruden led his team to a 4-12 record. He wasn’t trying to immediately contend, but rather establishing a foundation he can build with. The next season, with a more-concrete foundation laid, he increased his win-total to seven. An eight-win campaign was next.
Now in the 2021 NFL season, Jon Gurden’s Raiders were looking the best they’ve looked since his return. On top of being 3-2, the team averaged an astonishingly-high 30 points per contest through their first three weeks of the season.
Stability was finally back for the Silver and Black, and wins followed suit. Then, it happened.
In October of 2021, offensive emails dating back to 2014 from Gruden were leaked. These emails badmouthed women and homosexual men, among other things, in addition to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Faced with the growing backlash both through the National Football League and media, Davis met with Gruden to discuss how to proceed. The two men thought it best for Gruden to “resign” at that moment in time.
It wasn’t what Davis wanted, but it had to be done. Still, the Raiders’ controlling-owner wasn’t happy.
“It’s a timing issue,” Davis said in response to the situation, frustrated that he wasn’t informed of this at an earlier date to adequately prepare.
“We’re the Raiders, we’re used to this. That’s just what our life is about. It is disappointing; just the whole thing with Jon.”
Getting the Las Vegas Raiders back to what worked
In the meantime, Sin City’s football team still hasn’t built much of anything since Gruden’s departure–the opposite, in fact.
Josh McDaniels, who took over as Las Vegas’ head coach following the ’21 season, destroyed much of the foundation that was built. He moved the team so far backwards that, despite signing a six-year deal, he was canned after only 24 contests.
Through these 24 contests, McDaniels walked away victorious .360% of the time.
The Raiders saw much the same from their next man in charge, Antonio Pierce. Three weeks into the [non-interim] Pierce era, superstar wideout Davante Adams asked for a trade from his childhood team.
Additionally, for the first time in his career, doubt has started to creep into the mind of Maxx Crosby. Before the ’25 season rolls around, the All-Pro edge rusher noted “There are so many things that gotta be talked about.”
As of Tuesday, Pierce is no longer steering the ship of the Las Vegas Raiders. He becomes the second consecutive head coach of the Silver and Black to have a tenure shorter than 26 outings, winning .346% of his 25 contests.
Perhaps it’s time to get back to what worked last. For the Raiders, that’s Jon Gruden.
If Gruden is indeed interested in once again becoming a head coach, at the very least, Mark Davis’ curiosity will be piqued. As will Gruden’s when it comes to returning to a familiar place.
Falling back on sustained trust and familiarity
It’s time to tackle the aforementioned love for familiarity Gruden has. This is such an important thing to Gruden, to the point that Davis believes it’s what finally got the former Monday Night Football commentator on board after six years of recruiting.
“Over the last six years, I’ve really gotten to know Jon and his family,” Davis explained back in 2018. “And that I think was the important part of it.”
After his “resignation” with the Raiders, Gruden’s next gig would be with the New Orleans Saints during training camp in 2023 where he served as an “analyst and observer.” The reason why? To continue working with someone who he was familiar with–quarterback Derek Carr.
Just a handful of days ago, Gruden was back at the Saints’ facility catching up with Carr and Foster Moreau, two players he coached with the Raiders, and other New Orleans players.
Gruden truly loves going to places where there’s pre-established familiarity.
Of course, all of this information points to the Saints being a team that heavily pursues Gruden as well. After all, as Tom Pelissero also reported, the 61-year-old coach could’ve easily landed the team’s offensive coordinator job. He chose to pass, however, which may show Gruden’s eyes are elsewhere at the moment.
It could just as easily mean he won’t take anything less than a head coaching gig. And now that the Saints are short a head coach, it’s certainly a development to watch.
If not Jon Gruden, who will be the Las Vegas Raiders next head coach?
As it stands, free agent coach Mike Vrabel and Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen are popular names for the Las Vegas Raiders’ vacant job. They may not be feasible options, however.
For Vrabel, all signs seem to point back to the New England Patriots. Jon Gruden loves familiarity, and so does Patriots controlling-owner Robert Kraft. The coach he selected to replace Bill Belichick was Jerod Mayo, who the team hired to be their linebackers coach after playing linebacker in New England for eight seasons. Unfortunately for Mayo, a magnitude of mistakes led to his firing after only one year.
Who better to replace him than Mike Vrabel, who also played linebacker in New England for eight seasons? The Patriots have a head coaching interview with Vrabel scheduled for Thursday.
Detroit’s offensive coordinator passed on head coaching jobs in 2024 to stay in Detroit. Based on the trajectory of the Buccaneers and what they seem to be becoming, it won’t be surprising if Coen does the same.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won the NFC South for the fourth-straight time. This time, their offense was a major reason why. Tampa Bay finished their ’24 campaign with the third-most total yardage and fourth-most total points. This was a monstrous improvement to the year prior, where the team finished with the 10th-least yardage and 13th-least points.
Coen will be a name to watch, not just for the Raiders, but for each head coach-needy team in the NFL. Him sticking around in Tampa Bay would be far from shocking, however.
Perhaps Gruden is the most realistic option of the bunch as is. Keep on eye on the pairing as things heat up through what’s now Las Vegas’ offseason.
*Top Photo: Associated Press/ Rick Scuten
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