Jon Gruden issues update amid college football coaching rumors

While the world generally views Jon Gruden as a former football coach, he blurred that distinction in an appearnce on Pardon My Take. Long a fixture of coaching rumors, Gruden discussed his future plans and didn't sound like a guy stepping away from the game of football.

Gruden's comments

I absolutely love football. I love it and it's pretty much all I have.... Who knows what will happen, but I'm preparing myself as always to coach.
Jon Gruden

Gruden acknowledged that he feeds hit football addiction with a lot of video study. "I just put a lot of money into a server that collects all the firm and allows me to study them," he admitted. Gruden did a preseason tour that included Georgia practice, in which he spoke to the team and talked about his love for competition and football in general.

Gruden's history

Gruden has been gone from the NFL since 2021, when embarrassing e-mail leaks cut short his tenure with the Raiders. Gruden had a 22-31 record at the time. Since then, he worked as a consultant with the New Orleans Saints in 2023. Gruden posted a total 117-112 NFL record, including winning Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Among many other schools, Gruden is frequently linked with the University of Tennessee. Gruden began his coaching career at Tennessee and met his wife there. He last coached college football in 1991 as the wide receivers coach at the University of Pittsburgh. He could surface as a candidate in the Penn State vacancy.

Gruden was apparently a popular candidate even within insider circles to replace Derek Dooley or Butch Jones at Tennessee. He had a successful broadcasting run with ESPN between his work for the Raiders and Buccaneers. Gruden is 62 years old and hasn't had a high-pressure coaching job in four seasons, but he made clear with his comments that he's still very much following the game and could be up for a return if the right circumstances presented themselves.