There have been a lot of rumors over the last month about the possible return of Jon Gruden to the sidelines. Gruden, who won a Super Bowl in 2002 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a short career with the Oakland Raiders, has been linked with a number of job possibilities. However, ESPN reported that Gruden has now said that he won’t be coaching any team anytime soon.
Jon Gruden courted the rumors
The fact is that Jon Gruden actually is who started the coaching rumors, to begin with. Just last week, Gruden was doing an interview with the Pewter Report website and said that he has met with several people about possibly returning to coaching.
However, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers plan to induct Gruden into their Ring of Honor, Gruden said that was just talk and he likes to get really “close to the fire.”
Jon Gruden did not deny that he will never coach again. He was one of the youngest coaches in NFL history when he took on the role with the Oakland Raiders. Gruden helped make the Raiders Super Bowl contenders before Al Davis let him go, something that Raiders fans always had to worry about with their late owner. The very next season, the Raiders were in the Super Bowl anyway but they faced Gruden’s Buccaneers and lost.
Will Jon Gruden return?
Every year there will be rumors that Jon Gruden is coming back to coach a football team. Much of that is thanks to Gruden himself.
While there is a Gruden in the NFL right now, it is his brother Jay Gruden with the Washington Redskins. As for Jon, he said that every year he will talk about coming back to the NFL to coach again and he said that he still has his own playbook but he has no one to give it to.
Instead, Jon Gruden remains an analyst and is one of the most entertaining personalities on TV when he sits down every season with the rookie quarterbacks coming into the league to break down their games with them.
While Gruden said that he has no plans to return to coaching anytime soon, he did say that he still makes his own game breakdowns and studies other teams and players like he did when he was a coach.
It sounds like Jon Gruden would love to return to the NFL as a head coach but there has not been a job that has been worth his time yet.
His own wife Cindy said that he loves scouting and watching tape and that is what he loves most about the job. However, that doesn’t mean he really misses coaching games. Gruden did say that he loved his time coaching and the memories will always be there but for now, that is all they are – memories.
