![]() The excitement that he's bringing to a formerly prestigious, currently dormant franchise is palpable. In the short term, the move has reinvigorated a passionate fanbase, with the cluster of sign-wielding fans stationed outside the team facility on Tuesday morning serving as evidence. Mark Davis, Jon Gruden, and Reggie McKenzie answer questions on Tuesday. 540 career winning percentage, someone who founded the "Fired Football Coaches Association" during his time away, a former commentator who gave out an award called the "Gruden Grinder," and a coach whose reputation far exceeds his actual accomplishments. ![]() The Raiders just willingly handed a 10-year, $100 million contract to a coach who hasn't been in the NFL since 2008, a coach who stepped away from coaching with a. Step back for a moment and acknowledge the entire ridiculous nature of this situation. "I don't have a guarantee to be alive for 10 years," Gruden said before issuing a ridiculous statement about not knowing the terms of his own contract. Davis wanted that legend so badly, he chased him for six years and finally threw an undeniable 10-year, $100 million offer at him - terms that Gruden declined to confirm, by the way. At some point along the way, the legend of Gruden outgrew Gruden himself. Each and every offseason, his name was floated as someone's savior. In the decade since he's roamed an NFL sideline, those years are hardly ever discussed. It skips over the years when Gruden led a mediocre-at-best Buccaneers team and got fired after his record dropped to 57-55 (.509) in Tampa Bay. For the Raiders, trading him away marked the beginning of their descent into a black hole of misery. He whooped and hollered his way down the sideline after each subsequent interception as he cemented his place in the history books. He served as the scout-team quarterback as the Buccaneers prepped for that game, imitating the quarterback he used to coach and the quarterback the Buccaneers would pick off five times in that game. And when the Raiders decided that they'd be better off trading him to Tampa Bay for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and $8 million, he proved them wrong by whipping them 48-21 in the Super Bowl. The legend says that from 1998-2001, Gruden went 38-26 (.594) with the Raiders despite being the youngest head-coaching hire in NFL history at the time. No, this question will be answered years down the line, perhaps when Gruden's visor reads "Las Vegas."Ĭan Jon Gruden the coach live up to Jon Gruden the legend? It's the most important one, but it can't be answered at an introductory press conference eight months before he actually returns to an NFL sideline with a play-sheet in hand. The question that went unanswered is about Gruden himself. At one point, he even called himself insane. ![]() He found time to sneak in a reference to the tuck-rule game (spoiler alert: he still thinks Tom Brady fumbled). He addressed Derek Carr's potential and Marshawn Lynch's future (unknown at this point). He revealed that he'll be the one calling the plays. He confirmed that he's hired Greg Olson as his offensive coordinator, Paul Guenther as his defensive coordinator, and Rich Bisaccia as his special teams coordinator. "This is a big effing deal," he said moments before Gruden took the stage alongside Davis and general manager Reggie McKenzie.ĭuring his 30-minute Q&A session with reporters, Gruden hit on all the required topics. Take it from Raiders owner Mark Davis, who called Tuesday both the best day of his life and his biggest dream come true. Field turf placed over the floor served as the red carpet while Charles Woodson, Rich Gannon, and countless other ex-Raiders functioned as Gruden's apostles. His welcoming felt more like a crowning ceremony than a standard press conference, even if it took place in the middle of a weight room across the street from the airport on a gloomy, overcast day in Oakland. On Tuesday, the Oakland Raiders re-introduced Gruden as their new head coach and quite possibly, the savior they've been searching for ever since they booted him out the door all those years ago. In the process, he put his impeccable legacy up against impossible expectations. In a makeshift coronation hall squeezed between rows of weight machines at the Raiders' team facility, Jon Gruden resurrected his coaching career.
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