Although Jon Gruden hasn’t been a head coach in the NFL since 2008 but he’s never ruled out returning to the sidelines.
In an interview with Scott Reynolds of Pewter Report, the 53-year-old explained the interest he’s been receiving from the NFL:
“I’ve met with several people—I won’t deny that, people—just about every year I talk about coming back to coach. I’m not in here every day at 4:30 or 4:00 in the morning watching pinball. You know? I’m preparing myself to come back. I am. Every day. I’m preparing to come back.”
Gruden has been the lead analyst for Monday Night Football since 2009, also providing draft coverage with his “Gruden QB Camp” series where he talks to the top quarterback prospects in each draft class.
However, Gruden believes his preparation could also him to make a quick transition back to coaching if he really wanted to.
“You can’t come back unless you are totally wired with college football, personnel, schemes, the CBA, how people are practicing, trends, you know. You’ve got stay on top of this stuff.”
ESPN’s Adam Scheffer reported back in January that the Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers were all interested in hiring Gruden for the 2017 season. However, Gruden opted to stay in broadcasting and rejected them all.
The main reason why Gruden has opted to stay in the booth is his salary. As of 2015, Gruden was the highest-paid personality at ESPN, making $6.5 million.
As a coach, Gruden won 95 games in 11 years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders, including a Super Bowl XXXVII victory. As of know, he’s in the booth, but never rule out the possibility of Gruden returning to the sideline.
