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Jon Gruden has been around the game of football for his whole life. Playing, coaching, broadcasting, etc. Gruden has done it all, and his last head coaching stint was with the Las Vegas Raiders, and he has had a couple of smaller gigs since then as well. Gruden is now open to becoming a head coach again, and a lot of people think that he could seek out a college job as he is currently suing the NFL.
From 2018-2021, Jon Gruden was the head coach of the Raiders. After some inappropriate text messages were leaked, Gruden lost his job. He is suing the NFL because he thinks that the leaks happened purposefully.
Now, there is a chance that Gruden returns to the coaching game. He recently appeared on The Dan Patrick Show, and he admitted that he has had some conversations about being a college coach.
Dan Patrick: “Have you spoken to anybody recently about coaching in college?”
Jon Gruden: “I have, I talk to a lot of people about coaching, I always have an I always will I assume. But I’m not going to start any rumors or anything like that here today.”
The college game is much different than the NFL
Jon Gruden has a lot of experience as an NFL head coach, but he hasn't been the head coach of any college programs. The college game is a lot different than the NFL as NIL is obviously a major component of it. Gruden is actually excited about a lot of the recent changes that some coaches don't like.
Dan Patrick: “But you want to get into the NIL and recruiting and all of that stuff, I mean college is a whole lot different.”
Jon Gruden: “What’s exciting about the state of college football, the thing that excites me is the change with the transfer portal and the NIL. It’s astonishing how different the game is, and I’ve talked to a lot of college coaches who are friends of mine. It’s a frustrating beast to deal with, and I’m learning just like everybody else is, adapting mentally to what the rules are. It’s crazy, it’s an unbelievable change in college football. I don’t if it’s going to help the game or hurt the game but it certainly is different.”
Gruden has been staying ready for an opportunity to present itself, and it sounds like if something does come up, he would be interested in jumping on it.
Dan Patrick: “So you’re planning, you’re prepping, you’re learning to get that opportunity it sounds like.”
Jon Gruden: “That’s pretty much what I do. I just come here and mind my own business, I grind on my football, I collaborate with a lot of people about football. Different levels of football, and if someone is looking for somebody to coach I’ll be in the bullpen. We’ll see what happens.”
One school that has been discussed in terms of Gruden getting back into coaching is Florida. Head coach Billy Napier is struggling with the Gators and everyone is expecting the program to look for a new head coach this offseason. Gruden lived in Florida for a long time, so he might want to make a return to the Sunshine State.
It would probably make more sense for a job at a smaller school to be his first stop, but who knows. Anything can happen, but it does like Jon Gruden is interested in coaching at the college level.
