It wasn’t that long ago that former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden vowed to “burn the house down” in his lawsuit against the NFL.
Gruden alleged that commissioner Roger Goodell commissioned a “hit job” against him, exposing emails in which Gruden used homophobic and racist language in an attempt to get him fired.
But now it seems Gruden is seemingly desperate enough to coach in the league again that he isn’t above begging some of his former assistants for a job.
While there’s been no new update on Gruden’s case against the NFL in months—litigation is still pending before the Nevada Supreme Court to determine whether it will hear the case or be sent to arbitration handled by the NFL‘s in-house counsel—that hasn’t stopped Gruden from trying to get another job in the league.
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During a recent appearance at Detroit Lions training camp, Gruden, who attended practice as a guest of Lions coach Dan Campbell, told reporters that he’s open to seemingly any avenue that gets him back to coaching again, whether it be in the NFL or elsewhere.
“Hopefully I’m not done,” Gruden said, via the Detroit Free Press. “I’m about to make a comeback. I’m working hard to maybe get one more shot, but hopefully some of these guys that fell off my branch, if you say it that way, maybe they can hire me cause I’m looking for a job.”
While it doesn’t seem any NFL team aside from the New Orleans Saints hiring him as a consultant back in 2023 is willing to gamble on Gruden right now given his checkered history, he admitted that he’s even taking smaller jobs at high schools or colleges.
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“I don’t care if I coach at Jones Junior High,” Gruden added. “I’m going to coach again. I’m still coaching. I’m just not on a team officially, but I do have some private assignments I work on and I wear some gear when I’m watching the games that nobody knows about who I’m pulling for.”
During an interview with CBS Sports last September, Gruden admitted he’s even open to taking a college job given his ties tot he sport with his dad being a former college coach.
“I was a college coach at Pitt, my wife was a cheerleader at Tennessee when I met her,” Gruden stated. “Hell yeah, I’m interested in coaching. I know I can help a team, I know I can help young players get better, and I know I can hire a good staff, and that’s the only thing I can guarantee. But yeah, I’m very interested in coaching at any level, period.”
Though he’s appeared at several team’s training camp over the last few years including the Lions, Saints, and Kansas City Chiefs, Gruden last coached in the NFL in 2021. He was fired midseason after leading the Raiders to a 3-2 record.
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