Though he has not officially taken the job, Jon Gruden is expected to become the next head coach of the Oakland Raiders, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday night.
“The more you talked to people, the more they were convinced Jon would reenter coaching this year,” Schefter said. The return to coaching would be Gruden’s first job on the sideline since he left Tampa Bay in 2008. The Super Bowl XXXVII-winning coach broke into the league with the Raiders in 1998 at the age of 35 and amassed a 38-26 record in four seasons with the team.
Despite the rumors, ESPN has said that Gruden will call Saturday night’s playoff game with the Monday Night Football crew. That, of course, is likely to change should the announcement be finalized.
Here is the latest on the Gruden front:
- News broke Sunday night that Jets offensive coordinator John Morton was expected to be a target for Gruden’s coaching staff. On Monday, the Jets are expected to let Morton out of his contract to join Gruden in Oakland, the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta hears (Twitter link).
- ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported (Twitter link) that Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther is expected to be pursued by Gruden for the same role in Oakland. Guenther’s contract expired following the Bengals’ 31-27 win over the Ravens on Sunday. If Marvin Lewis is not retained in Cincinnati, however, Guenther could be a candidate for the head-coaching gig.
- On Monday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported (Twitter link) that Gruden is expected to eventually say yes to the job after the team complies with the Rooney Rule. He also notes that Gruden is planning to call plays.
So I guess the raiders will continue to lose. Hope I am wrong and chucky can bring the raiders back to greatness.
As a die hard chiefs fan , i also watch most Raider games and i for one had the Raiders winning 10-11 games. I dont think theres a lack of talent on the field. During the Patriots – Raiders contest Romo was talking about the visual lack of discipline, hustle and determination that The Raiders lacked this season. Those 3 virtues are a product of coaching. Too many studs on that team to end up 6-10.
I hate when teams make a mockery of the Rooney Rule. I hope they can’t find a single person to interview, so it’s impossible to comply with it.
The rule is a joke in the first place. They already know who they want, but this “rule” makes them go through this, so they are.
You mean every team that ever has a job open? The rule itself is a mockery a
It’s an incredibly dumb rule. You should always be able to interview as many or as few candidates as you wish and take whoever you think is the best fit for the job regardless of race, ethnicity, etc..