Maybe Jon Gruden is still just trying to bully his younger brother Jay. Or maybe he really just does want another crack at the NFL and a Lombardi Trophy and views the moribund NFC East, won this season by Jay's Washington Redskins, as the perfect place to take that shot. Either way, it sounds like the elder Gruden, the guy who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after coming close with the Oakland Raiders, has interest in returning to the grind of coaching. According to a report from Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News, Gruden has let it be known through "an intermediary," that he would be interested in taking over the top spot for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Let that sink in for a moment. We'll wait.
OK, now that the information has finally wormed its way into your brain, let's expand a little.
Gruden, the ESPN Monday Night Football analyst, last coached an NFL team in 2008. His career NFL coaching record is 57-55. He's got a cushy job at the Worldwide Leader making big bucks. His current contract is to carry him through 2021. It seems odd that he'd want to leave such an arrangement, especially to then coach in a division against Jay.
But then again, nothing is really surprising in the world of football, where egos are built and shattered and remade anew again every season. Perhaps Gruden needs to have the competitive itch scratched. Maybe he just wants his ego stroked a little. He's been discussed as a potential head coaching candidate nearly every season since 2008 and hasn't made the leap yet.
Maybe he's just been waiting for the right opportunity.
Whatever the reason, if Domowitch's report is accurate, Gruden holds some level of interest in the Eagles coaching gig. They've got plenty of veteran players and a talented, if still unproven veteran at quarterback in Sam Bradford. At nearly every stop along his head coaching path, Gruden showed an affinity for seasoned players, especially at quarterback. In Oakland, he won with Rich Gannon. In Tampa, it was Brad Johnson, Brian Griese and even Jeff Garcia.
Unfortunately for Gruden and any Eagles fans potentially interested in "Chucky," it sounds like the desire for a marriage flows mostly one way at this point. Per Domowitch, Lurie "likes and respects" Gruden, but is leery of Gruden's willingness to "play nice" with Eagles executive vice president of football operations, Howie Roseman.
Again, we'll pause while you catch your breath.
Yes. Howie Roseman. The once-deposed GM who is now back at the helm despite a spotty tenure at best before Chip Kelly wrestled control away from him last offseason.
So, we know that Roseman will play a central role going forward. And we know that despite Gruden's interest, Lurie's preference is to focus on the young coordinators around the league, like Chicago's Adam Gase, New York's Ben McAdoo, and the guy many, including Domowitch, believe is really the apple of Lurie's eye, Doug Pederson of the Kansas City Chiefs.
In the end, it wouldn't be surprising to see Lurie, Roseman and Co. go any direction in the current hiring cycle. There have been plenty of clues, but it's mostly circumstantial evidence. And while Gruden may have interest, it sounds like he's on the lower-half of a list of candidates that seems to grow longer with every passing day.
