Jon Gruden has extremely telling response when asked about Raiders coaching job
One of the worst-kept secrets in the NFL right now is the looming marriage between the Oakland Raiders and head coaching candidate Jon Gruden.
Yes, the Raiders still have to adhere to the league’s Rooney Rule and “interview” a minority candidate.
And yes, Gruden is still planning on fulfilling his commitment to ESPN by announcing Saturday’s wild-card matchup between the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs.
But it’s become virtually common knowledge at this point that Gruden will be coaching the Raiders at the start of the 2018 NFL season.
It’s been widely assumed that the Raiders never would’ve fired coach Jack Del Rio without some sort of wink-wink agreement in place with Gruden.
With this type of rampant speculation, Gruden has been coy with how he responds when asked about his next job.
In an interview with The San Jose Mercury News, he gave perhaps his most telling response yet.
“My understanding is they’re interviewing candidates this week and they’re going to let everybody know sometime early next week or whenever they make their decision,” Gruden said.
He then added a comment that is almost impossible to construe as anything other than tongue-in-cheek.
“Well, I think I am being considered, yes. I hope I’m a candidate,” Gruden said when asked if he was specifically being considered as a candidate.
Gruden, currently an analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” broadcasts, has consistently found his name attached to various coaching vacancies.
He has not coached since he was fired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the 2008 season. Gruden had been traded to the Bucs from the Raiders, where he coached for four years and posted a 38-26 record.
Interestingly enough, Gruden’s candidacy for the Raiders head coach position was first reported by his employer, ESPN.
The Raiders woefully underperformed in 2017, posting a 6-10 record just a year after making the playoffs with a 12-4 record.
Oakland was a shell of its playoff self, being outscored by 72 points during the year and finishing the season on a four-game losing streak.
Quarterback Derek Carr seemed to regress significantly. He was viewed by many as an MVP candidate in 2016, but finished 2017 as one of the least-effective starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
While some attribute Carr’s lack of production to various injuries, including a lingering back issue, many view his regression as a major reason the Raiders are seeking Gruden.
Gruden has long been considered a quarterback guru, and the feeling among Raiders fans seem to be that he can fix whatever issues Carr is having.
Considering Carr is the second-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL, Raiders fans had better hope that Gruden can work his magic if, as expected, he becomes Oakland’s new coach.
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