After a disappointing end to his time with the Raiders, it looked like Jon Gruden might not get another opportunity to coach football.
No one wanted their name connected to Gruden after derogatory emails were released to the public in October of 2021, and the Super Bowl-winning coach spent the better part of the last three years in legal battles with the NFL.
Gruden recently started a YouTube channel, something he promoted this week on the Dan Patrick Show. The conversation got a little awkward.
Patrick asked Gruden repeated questions about his legal matters and, not surprisingly, Gruden wasn’t interested in offering details.
“I’m not going to get into all that,” Gruden said when asked about who he believes leaked his emails to the media in 2021. “I really don’t even want to talk about it. I have a great opportunity to do some of the things I want to do right now, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
As far as his coaching career is concerned, Gruden acknowledged that he would be interested in coaching in college or the NFL, but said he was not going to “start any rumors or anything like that here today.”
“If someone’s looking for somebody to coach, I’ll be in the bullpen,” Gruden added. “We’ll see what happens, but I have a great Youtube Channel we’re very excited about and I’m putting all my focus in that now.”
Just over a year ago, Gruden’s name came up again in association with the Raiders, and Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter made a comment on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast that could have a hint of relevance again if the Raiders don’t turn things around under Antonio Pierce.
“I am going to tell you there are a lot of people who feel that Mark Davis, more than [Tom] Brady and Jim Gray, the person he trusts the most is Jon Gruden and would love to bring him back,” Carpenter said in November of 2023. “I am hearing from multiple people around the league that if Jon were willing to drop his lawsuit, they believe the NFL would give a passive nod to go back and re-hire him… everyone keeps talking about Jon Gruden.”