Jon Gruden had an up-and-down tenure during his second time leading the Las Vegas Raiders. While he was at the helm as the franchise moved from Oakland to Las Vegas and the franchise's record improved in each of his four seasons, the lone winning campaign came in 2021 after he was fired.
The Raiders were just 22-31 during his stint, failing to reach the postseason in that span. It was recently revealed that, despite the lack of success under Gruden, the head coach passed on an opportunity to bring in Tom Brady following his departure from the New England Patriots.
Brady wound up joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and winning his seventh and final Super Bowl. By contrast, Gruden wanted to roll with Derek Carr under center, which led to the aforementioned underwhelming results. His recent comments prove that Gruden has learned nothing from this fiasco.
Jon Gruden proves he hasn't learned from sticking with Derek Carr instead of signing Tom Brady
While Carr had a great 2016 season with the Raiders, it was clear that he was not the same quarterback after suffering a season-ending fibula fracture in Week 16 of that year. Fans were shocked to hear that Gruden opted to stick with Carr instead of potentially signing Brady.
Gruden recently appeared on the Home Grown podcast, which is hosted by Carr and his older brother, David. On this week's episode, Gruden was asked what it would take for him to return to the NFL, and he has an interesting answer, to say the least.
"It would just take an opportunity. I mean, I'm here working. If you saw what I do here every day, I'm preparing myself to do it. So, we'll see what happens. I'm just preparing myself in case opportunity knocks, but if it doesn't, I have a good gig. I'm having a lot of fun, and I'm still meeting with a lot of coaches, a lot of players behind the scenes and it's been awesome," Gruden said. "But if I do get that opportunity, I will be out there in Fresno looking for you, Derek. I want to see if you can get off the spot and still make some of those awkward delivery throws in tight windows. That's what I'm looking for."
RELATED: Raiders bring in familiar face for workout after defensive struggles
It is unclear why Gruden would want to run things back with Carr after the duo found minimal success together. While the former was forced to resign in 2021 following his leaked email scandal, the latter retired from football this offseason after dealing with several shoulder injuries and a general decline.
Following Mark Davis recently sharing that Gruden passed on Brady to keep Carr, one would think he'd opt against attaching himself to his former quarterback, particularly while openly revealing that he wants to return to coaching.
Instead, the two-time Raiders head coach seemingly lacks the self-awareness to admit his previous mistake and not publicly play his hand before landing a job. Raider Nation knows exactly what would happen if these two teamed up again, but clearly, Gruden does not.