ESPN releases Jon Gruden quote about Oakland Raiders interest
By Chase Ruttig
Yesterday saw Jon Gruden’s name thrust back into the head coaching discussion far earlier than anyone anticipated after the Oakland Raiders fired Dennis Allen and reports surfaced that owner Mark Davis has the current Monday Night Football color guy at the top of his list of potential “superstar” HC’s he would like to bring in to help bring back the franchise to the playoffs. A complicated storyline because Gruden is under a lucrative contract with ESPN that has allowed him to keep his stock high in the NFL world while also making him financially secure thanks to several commercial deals with the likes of Corona and Hooters over the past few years.
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So it comes as no surprise that ESPN came out on Wednesday morning with a quote from Gruden that is downplaying the prospects of the former Raiders head coach coming back to the sidelines, contradicting quotes from Rich Gannon recently that indicated that “Chucky” may still have what is known as “the itch” when it comes to wanting to return to the football world from the broadcasting realm. ESPN’s Monday Night Football account tweeting that Gruden’s mind is on the next MNF telecast and not on returning to coaching.
Gruden’s quote may or may not be genuine, but it is interesting to note that watching his brother coach so often this season may be slowly motivating Gruden to make his own return to the sidelines down the road. ESPN will be trying their best to spin the Gruden angle to their benefit as they should, but as they have learned in the past the Worldwide Leader should expect to have to deal with a heavy pursuit by a hopeful team to take their color commentator from them. Whether that happens or not, expect ESPN to do whatever it takes to retain the man who has put QB Camp and “Spider 2Y Banana” on the map.