Jon Gruden wants to coach a major college football program.
Before we explain why and why not this may happen, let’s cut to the chase: he’ll probably get the opportunity.
In a world where celebrity and personality sell tickets, a Super Bowl-winning coach with three decades of airtime as an entertaining TV analyst and fiery NFL coach will almost certainly reinvigorate a fan base and draw more dollars. Gruden, like Deion Sanders, is a force, a cult of personality capable of stirring passion and reshaping narratives.
So, yes, two decades after our first round of “Grumors,” prepare for another wild ride — and perhaps the most serious and realistic yet — on the coaching carousel later this fall. Gruden poured gasoline on that fire last week when he visited Georgia, arguably the best-run machine in the sport, to speak to players and coaches. Cameras followed Gruden, who currently works for Barstool Sports, every step of the way.
“The only reason I really came here is because I want to coach again,” Gruden told the Bulldogs. “I’m being honest with you, I do not bullshit either. I want to coach again. I’d die to coach in the SEC. I would love it. I would f—ing love it.”
The truth is, Gruden will be a tough sell for an athletics director and the boosters who bankroll them. But he’s not radioactive. Not anymore.
If you’re in the dark as to why, a brief recap: Gruden is locked in bitter litigation against the NFL and scored a big win Wednesday when the Nevada State Supreme Court cleared a path for the lawsuit against the league and commissioner Roger Goodell to continue. Gruden alleges the NFL deliberately leaked incriminating emails, which led to his ouster from the Las Vegas Raiders in November 2021. Those emails sent by Gruden during his time as an ESPN analyst included racist, sexist and homophobic language.
Jon Gruden NFL lawsuit timeline: How the former Raiders coach has battled in court over leaked email scandal
Brad Crawford
Gruden rarely addresses those emails in public. He issued a written apology in 2021 and said in August 2022 he was “ashamed.” When I visited him in September 2024, he declined to speak at length about the case or the emails, offering that “the due process will take care of itself.”
If Gruden is truly as desperate to coach a college program as he claims, he knows he’ll soon face an avalanche of questions about that controversy. No topic will be off limits when an AD or search committee grills him about his past.
Nearly one year ago, I traveled to Florida and sat down with Gruden inside a cavernous office building he jokingly calls the “Fired Football Coaches Association” outside Tampa. He had just resurfaced with a YouTube show, and an intermediary had invited me to meet him to discuss his future.
It was as clear then — just as it is now — that the NFL outcast was plotting his return, and a new target was on the radar: college football.
The hours I spent with perhaps the most football-obsessed man alive remain unforgettable. He spoke with the intensity of a preacher, his lessons pouring out with urgency and conviction. He was animated, genuine and surprisingly uplifting. Legal pads with torn-out yellow sheets were scattered everywhere, each one crammed with handwritten plays and ideas. Game balls adorned shelves and every wall was plastered with legendary jerseys, faded newspaper clippings and reminders of past triumphs.
His sprawling, 4,100-square-foot office with a dozen or so rooms — stuffed with hundreds, maybe thousands, of film reels and dusty playbooks — felt more like a Football Smithsonian than a workspace.
The scene was captivating. So was he. I left grateful for the crash course in his universe, swept up by the sheer velocity of his football mind.
Still, that shadow lingered. The walls reflected the highs of his career, but not the stains. As much as Gruden wanted to envision the future, he couldn’t escape the past he’s desperate to leave behind. He also wasn’t willing to discuss it openly.
At some point, he won’t have a choice. If he wants to coach again, he will answer the difficult questions. Many universities will shy away, but it only takes one willing to roll the dice.
“I am sure someone will give him a chance as he is a good coach,” a Power Four athletics director told CBS Sports. “WIth the way the game is changing, he might be a good fit having worked in the NFL, but recruiting is a full-contact sport and he would need to surround himself with seasoned college coaches and personnel people.”
When I met him last year, Gruden was already drawing up blueprints. You can bet they’ve expanded since then.
Back then, he railed against the spread of RPO offenses and clap-snap quarterbacks. The West Coast savant, known for molding quarterbacks, was intent on building under-center formations with heavy 12 and 13 personnel. It’s far from fashionable in today’s college game, but zigging when everyone else zags might just be his advantage.
“It would be fun to watch,” the AD said.
However, fun doesn’t always equate to effectiveness. Any AD bold enough to hire him would be taking a gamble — both morally and schematically.
There are other forces at play as well. Remember, college football is a copycat sport. Whether it’s offensive whiz kids elevated to head coaches or, more recently, big-name personalities dropped onto campuses, schools follow each other’s lead. Deion Sanders at Colorado. Bill Belichick at North Carolina. Trent Dilfer at UAB. That wave gives Gruden’s case a little more juice.
I suggest that Gruden’s job prospects may hinge more on Belichick’s performance this fall. Belichick, like Gruden, has never led a college program. He arrived in the ACC in the winter and built a staff composed primarily of former NFL allies, including general manager Michael Lombardi. He plucked transfers from small programs, building upon his reputation in the NFL as an expert at finding diamonds in the rough.
Expectations in the media and among those in the coaching fraternity are muted at best. Many are skeptics. They doubt Belichick’s blueprint will succeed overnight.
But what if North Carolina does win?
You can bet ADs across the country will suddenly be more receptive to Gruden’s pitch.
Controversial hires aren’t new. Coaches have long received second and even third chances after ugly exits. Only Art Briles, fired at Baylor amid a sexual assault scandal, has remained truly untouchable.
When CBS Sports surveyed ADs and agents a year ago, responses on Gruden were mixed. Most pegged him as a more likely fit at a Group of Six school than a power conference giant, where Gruden dreams of landing.
But times change. Some ADs — including at least one from a power league — have softened, in part because Gruden’s media reemergence has reshaped perception. Even more persuasive: the financial boost he could bring a program scrambling to balance the books in the new revenue-sharing era.
The SEC is expected to have several job openings by the end of the year, following zero turnover in 2024. Other power programs will open in the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12.
Right or wrong, Gruden’s candidacy is a decision for administrators to make. But one thing seems inevitable: Gruden will be in the mix this fall.
Let the Grumors commence.
Read the full article here