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Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders finally hit rock-bottom on Thursday night. They were utterly embarrassed by third-string quarterback Nick Mullens, who led the San Francisco 49ers to a 34-3 win in his NFL debut.
But despite that demoralizing defeat and the disappointing season as a whole, Gruden remains confident in himself and the organization’s ability to build toward a championship.
“The Oakland Raiders is a great organization. I know it's not looking pretty right now. I've heard a lot of negativity over the last six or seven months, and rightfully so. But we're going to build a championship football team here. I know a lot of people as players, as fans, just in general, want to be a part of this,” Gruden said per Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.
Gruden, who recently said that he receives calls from players “dying” to play for the Raiders, also doubled down on that claim by stressing that players “no doubt” want to join the organization in the future.
“That's been the case my whole life,” he said. “I think the brand of the Raiders is an exciting one. I think a lot of players, no doubt, do want to play for us in the future.”
Based on the steady downward trajectory the Raiders have taken ever since Gruden’s arrival, it’s hard to take what’s coming out of the head coach’s mouth seriously anymore. He continues to talk a big game, but he’s been unable to back any of it up.
Unless he does an unbelievably masterful job of rebuilding the team with all the first-round draft picks he’s acquired from recent trades, it seems as if the Raiders will be nowhere near a championship as long as he’s in charge.
