2008 was the last time Jon Gruden was on the sidelines as a football head coach, but every year since then there has always been speculation about his return to the sidelines. Although there is always speculation, Gruden always denies that he is coming back to the sidelines. But this time it’s different. There is an opening at the University of Tennessee and Gruden had this to say when asked about coaching once again:
I haven’t talked to anybody. All I really have in my life is my family and football. That’s about it. I’m real sensitive to the coaches that are out there coaching, so I don’t speculate. I just love football. I’m trying to hang onto the job I have. I’m very fortunate to be with the people I’m with. I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the future. I just know this: I’m gonna continue to give my best effort to the game, stay prepared, and I love Monday Night Football and don’t plan on leaving but, as you know in life, you never say never to nothing.
After being let go by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following a 9-7 season in 2008, Gruden accepted a job with ESPN as a commentator for their Monday Night Football crew and has been doing that ever since. Since taking that job he has never expressed interest in coming back to coach, so to hear him say “never say never,” is quite the change. Many have speculated that if Gruden were to return to the sidelines it would be in the NFL, but Gruden does have ties to the University of Tennessee as that is where he got his start as a coach in the 1980s, so going back as the leading man is not out of the realm of possibility.
The University of Tennessee is not the only coaching job that Gruden’s name has been linked to recently. Some are speculating that Gruden will in fact return to the NFL with his former employer the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs are only in year two with Dirk Koetter as the head coach, but they are not shy about firing coaches that they are unhappy with as we’ve seen when they fired Tony Dungey, Jon Gruden, Raheem Morris, Greg Schiano and Lovie Smith. This is obviously all still speculation, but Gruden may be the closest he’s been in a while to being back on the sidelines.