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Disgraced former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, who resigned from his position with the Raiders during the 2021 season as a result of an email leak that saw him make multiple racist, misogynistic, and homophobic remarks, has quietly begun his comeback to the league.
According to reports from the Times-Picayune, Gruden has been working with quarterback Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints in an effort to build out the team’s offense around the newly-acquired Pro Bowl signal-caller.
The club also brought in Gruden this week to pick his brain about the offensive transition. The longtime head coach spent much of his time at the Saints facility with Carr and the offensive coaching staff as they orchestrated the early stages of the offensive installation.
Gruden has a unique familiarity with Carr and the Saints’ offensive scheme so the move to bring him to campus makes sense. [via Times-Picayune]
It’s certainly not surprising that the Saints have sought Gruden’s advice, as Carr’s three best statistical seasons came with Gruden as his head coach. His role with the Saints, however, is clearly in an unofficial capacity.
During his NFL career, Gruden was a head coach for 15 seasons, eight of which were with the Raiders, the first stint being from 1998 to 2001 and the second being from 2018 to 2021.
His other seven years as an NFL head coach were with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2002 to 2008. In his first season with the Bucs, Gruden led the team to a Super Bowl victory over the Raiders, the team he coached the previous season.
Between 2008 and 2018, Gruden was out of the National Football League and served as the lead analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football.
Back in October, reports indicated that there was “growing concern around the NFL about” the potential of Gruden suing the league, as he apparently believes that the NFL intentionally leaked the emails to the press.