The NFL Is basically scrubbing everything related to Jon Gruden after he was forced into resigning from the Las Vegas Raiders as their head coach following e-mails that made him look in the worst possible light.
From looking like a racist to a homophobe, Gruden knew there was no way he could stay on as the Raiders coach. Honestly, the Las Vegas Raiders are better off without him.
In the end, Gruden was never that good of an NFL head coach to begin with. In fact, he was an overrated head coach.
Was he a good coach, sure. He did win, although he wasn’t Bill Belichick or even Bill Cowher. He was more Jeff Fisher. He was barely an above .500 head coach with a Super Bowl ring that he didn’t deserve.
Granted, he won the Super Bowl, but he did so with Tony Dungy’s team and the team Dungy spent six years assembling into an all-time one. Gruden swooped in as a 39-year-old who promised the Buccaneers several championships and only delivered one.
And he got that one against the team he used to coach and knew the entire Oakland Raiders playbook since Bill Callahan was his offensive line coach.
Now granted, a defense that had Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch and Ronde Barber on it was already great. But when you know what plays are coming, it makes for an easier game, and the Buccaneers never sweated in that game.
After Gruden stepped away from coaching and spent nine years with ESPN as the analyst for Monday Night Football, Gruden’s name was literally tied to every coaching vacancy possible.
Yet the one that drew him back to the game was the Raiders; mostly because he got $100 million to come back. In three-plus seasons, Gruden was 22-31. He was a bad coach.
The Raiders were better off with Jack Del Rio as their coach for a lot less money. Yet, Mark Davis had to learn the hard way that Gruden was not all that he was cracked up to be.
He wasn’t a quarterback guru. He wasn’t a master motivator. He was a jerk. Who this time around, didn’t a lot of football games.
Thus last week, the Buccaneers removed Gruden from their Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium. After all, he’s not the only coach anymore to lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl since Bruce Arians did it and is trying to do so again with Tom Brady.
Gruden should be grateful that he earned a lot of money recently, and should take it and find a nice, cozy place to hide off for the rest of his days.
He’s done with football, all of it. He’s not coaching again, and he’s likely not announcing either. Who wants to listen to his point of views in 2021? Clearly, the Raiders didn’t. Neither did the Buccaneers. And neither did the NFL.
Good riddance to an all-time overrated head coach, who won’t be missed.
