Once Jon Gruden's controversial emails got leaked during the 2021 season, it appeared his NFL career could be over. He resigned from his position as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and stayed out of the public eye for years.
However, in 2024, Gruden started to make a comeback. He started his own YouTube channel and partnered up with Barstool Sports. He's now all over social media talking about football.
While it's going to be hard for people to accept him considering the contents of those leaked emails, there's no denying that he's obsessed with football. Now that he's back in the limelight, it's possible that teams could consider him for head coaching jobs. In fact, according to the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, NFL teams are starting to look into Gruden.
“Keep an eye on Jon Gruden,” Pelissero said on Good Morning Football. “… It’s not to say for sure that Jon Gruden will be back but there are multiple teams that have been doing extensive homework on Jon Gruden, the situation, him as a coach, him as a person. I would not be surprised at all if in the coming weeks you see Jon Gruden’s name popping up interviewing for a head coaching job.”
From @gmfb: Breaking down some big names in the upcoming coaching carousel with @PSchrags — and one surprise name you may hear. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/t3dfHIiCu2
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 31, 2024
Any team that hires Gruden will have to deal with a certain level of controversy. Also, the NFL doesn't like him, considering he sued the league. The team that hires him might face blowback from multiple fronts.
It's also important to note that his second stint with the Raiders was mostly a disaster. He never led the team to the playoffs and made some of the worst draft picks you could possibly make. Gruden is clearly a very good football mind and still a good play-caller. However, for a team to even consider him, he can't be allowed to have any say on personnel decisions, especially when it comes to the draft.