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Following the announcement of the hiring of Jon Gruden as the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders, the NFL had conducted a thorough investigation on if the team had abided by the “Rooney Rule.”
This requires teams to interview minority candidates for the position to give an equal opportunity at possibly landing the position. According to Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network, the examination has found that the Raiders had followed the guidelines.
Per @NFLprguy, the NFL confirms the #Raiders complied with the Rooney Rule during the hire of Jon Gruden. The league spoke with Gruden, GM Reggie McKenzie, and owner Mark Davis. The team interviewed TE coach Bobby Johnson & #USC OC Tee Martin for HC.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 19, 2018
There has been some doubt surrounding the situation given that team owner Mark Davis had revealed he had secretly got an agreement from Gruden to take the job before letting go of Jack Del Rio from the position. This put into effect the investigation by the league to see if the Raiders had done their due diligence with the entire head coach search process.
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The Raiders may have interviewed a couple of candidates in tight ends coach Bobby Johnson and USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin, but neither of them was seen as more than abiding by the rule. It is a process that simply needed to be done in order for Oakland to get Gruden to take over as the next head coach. This has received much criticism for how it was handled, but it also makes it clear that there need to be some adjustments made to better implement the rule.
Meanwhile, the Raiders now have in place a new head coach that has created plenty of buzz around the organization. Although he hasn't coached in the NFL since 2008, there is an excitement about what he can bring to the table for the team to get them back in the playoff picture.
This will mark Gruden's second tenure with Oakland as he was previously at the helm for four seasons where he held a 38-26 record that includes a pair of playoff appearances, two AFC West division titles, and a trip to the AFC Championship game.
