Although he hasn’t coached in the NFL in nearly a decade, Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden is ever a popular candidate in the minds of coaching rumor mongers, if not the minds of NFL front offices.
But maybe now, after so many years away, Gruden is finally coming back:
Raiders preparing to pursue Jon Gruden, per @mortreport and me…. https://t.co/A0U7LgV5VQ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2017
To be sure, nothing is established just yet, but Gruden’s former team, the Oakland Raiders, are reportedly preparing not only to go hard after their old coach, but are willing to offer him part-ownership in the team to make it happen.
The Raiders, of course, just extended their current head coach Jack Del Rio last year, but they head into the season finale with a disappointing 6-9 record. With a move to Las Vegas on the horizon and a young quarterback in Derek Carr, perhaps the Raiders will be especially willing to go all in on bringing Gruden back into the fold right now.
Given the close relationships between those reporting this news out of ESPN and Gruden, himself, you’ve gotta figure Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen have pretty good sources on this one. You can read the full report for the details, including noncommittal comments from Gruden, himself.
As far as the Bears’ own coaching search goes, to the extent the Raiders seek out Gruden, specifically, to replace Del Rio, there is, at worst, no impact on the Bears (they’re not going after Gruden). At best, if the Raiders were going to move on from Del Rio anyway (he’s on the block, but nothing firm has been reported), it closes off one coaching gig without removing a plausible Bears candidate from the market.