The Oakland Raiders traded Jon Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002 and the Monday Night Football color commentator hasn't coached since he was fired by the Buccaneers in January 2009, but Raiders owner Mark Davis is "enamored" with the idea of a reunion with Gruden, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.
Raiders owner ‘enamored’ with hiring Jon Gruden, per report
Gruden was traded by the Raiders in 2002, but owner Mark Davis is smitten with the idea of a reunion.
Gruden, 51, burst onto the coaching scene as a wide receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers and an offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was hired by the Raiders in 1998 as head coach and posted a 38-26 record in four seasons at the helm, including a trip to the 2000 AFC Championship.
Considered one of the top coaching prospects of the time, Gruden was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a coup that included multiple first- and second-round picks for the Raiders. After earning a Super Bowl victory in 2002, Gruden’s career in Tampa Bay was otherwise underwhelming and he was fired after the Buccaneers made the playoffs just twice in the subsequent six seasons.
Gruden has since joined ESPN as an in-game analyst, replacing Tony Kornheiser for color commentary during Monday Night Football telecasts. While he hasn’t ruled it out, Gruden also hasn’t expressed any direct interest in a return to coaching in the NFL.
La Canfora also noted that Davis thinks highly of San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and Stanford Cardinal head coach David Shaw. While Shaw has rebuffed NFL offers in the past, Harbaugh's seemingly tumultuous relationship with the 49ers seems to be wearing thin and the two sides could part ways after the 2014 season.
See More:
