Jon Gruden Rumors: Oakland Raiders Head Coach Option After Dennis Allen Fired As Mark Davis Wants David Shaw?

Oct 01, 2014 11:59 AM EDT
Former coach Jon Gruden of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Former coach Jon Gruden of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers carries the Lombardi trophy to the field during half-time ceremonies as the Philadelphia Eagles play December 9, 2012 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The Bucs celebrated a Super Bowl win 10 years ago. The Eagles won 23 - 21."

The Oakland Raiders need a new coach after firing Dennis Allen and Jon Gruden has come up in rumors as a top candidate along with Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw, as owner Mark Davis is looking to make a wholesale change for the franchise after the way things have gone over the past three seasons and while it's very unlikely, the Raiders will try and recruit Gruden, who has been working as an ESPN analyst for years now.

According to Pro Football Talk, the Raiders have opted to put Tony Sparano in as head coach on an interim basis after Allen was fired and that came after the Raiders started 0-4. The team lost in London in bad fashion to the Miami Dolphins and now they have a bye week before playing another game. Reports on Allen's job status came out after the game and he was fired by a "frustrated" Mark Davis soon after. The San Jose Mercury News reports that Davis will be looking at Gruden at some point as a head coach option, with Davis saying Gruden could reach out to "me" or that :I may reach out to him."

Gruden has been mentioned numerous times for head coach openings over the last few years, including in Miami, Tampa Bay, St. Louis as well as Tennessee for the Volunteers head coaching job. Gruden has always said no and he currently appears happy with his job as an ESPN analyst. The Raiders have not been back to the playoffs since Gruden beat them in the Super Bowl and now he could be the main target for the franchise. One media report mentioned Jim Harbaugh, but that was more about speculation than an actual rumor of him being a candidate.

Allen won just eight games in two plus seasons with the Raiders and now he will move on and Gruden could be the next head coach that comes in. GM Reggie McKenzie has been under fire for a couple years and if things don't improve, he could be out of a job at some point as well. The Raiders were once one of the premier franchises in the league, but they have fallen on hard times and the two QB trades the team has made in the last couple seasons with Matt Flynn and Matt Schaub have not worked out so far.

SB Nation writes that the Raiders want a "superstar" head coach for their next hire and that means it likely will be a big name. Gruden fits that bill, but after all the success he had as a head coach, it's unlikely he would come back to take a team that is in such a dire situation. The Raiders made the playoffs in 2000 and 2001 while Gruden was there and he won 38 games in his time as head coach for Oakland.

The Raiders have been in a free-fall for a few years and after going 8-8 ion back to back seasons before Allen took over, the team won just eight games since. The team went 4-12 in each of the past two seasons before starting 0-4 this season.

"He may reach out to me. I may reach out to him," Davis said, via Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. "I may reach out to anybody. That's the future, and I'm not going to talk about future coaches."

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