It’s been nearly four years since Jon Gruden resigned from his job as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders following the release of previous emails that contained racist, sexist and homophobic language. In recent years, Gruden has been doing work to get back into the public eye and has been talking more and more about returning to coaching.
However, it’ll be difficult for him to get back into the NFL right now. He’s still in the middle of a lawsuit with the league, and it didn’t appear he had the Raiders headed in the right direction before resigning.
While the NFL is a long shot, college could make a lot of sense for Gruden. His more old-school approach would be a better fit for the college game. Arkansas just made the decision to fire head coach Sam Pittman, but any SEC head coaching job should appeal to Gruden.
Legendary quarterback Brett Favre, who worked with Gruden for three years on the Green Bay Packers, thinks that the coach would be a perfect fit for Arkansas.
“I’ve always said Jon Gruden is one of the sharpest minds in football,” Favre wrote in a recent post on X. “His energy, passion, and love for the game are a perfect fit for the SEC… Wouldn’t be surprised to see him land somewhere like Arkansas. I could see Gruden being a spark for that program.”
Gruden Previously Expressed Interest in Arkansas
The Arkansas talk regarding Gruden isn’t coming out of nowhere. Back in 2022, the coach said that he was warming up to the idea of coaching in college and even specifically spoke about the Arkansas job.
“I was concerned about being a college coach, because I would have you on the death penalty probation within six months,” Gruden told the Little Rock Touchdown Club.
“But now that you’re paying players and I know a bank with $27 billion, I’d love to have the Arkansas job.”
Now, Gruden talks a lot, so he could’ve just been blowing smoke. Also, it remains to be seen if Arkansas would be interested. He is a huge celebrity, so once they hire him, things are going to change for the program. There are going to be a ton of eyes watching them.
Could Gruden Have Success At College Level?
It’s difficult to know for sure how Gruden would do in college. We’ve seen NFL guys like Pete Carroll go to college and have huge success, but Bill Belichick is having a very hard time at North Carolina right now.
Gruden is a bit more Carroll than Belichick, so it’s easy to see him doing well. He’s still a strong offensive mind who should do great work with quarterbacks. He’d also likely be a very good recruiter.
SEC schools typically get good NIL money, and adding Gruden to the mix would probably increase their funds. It could take a year or two for Gruden to get adjusted to the college game, but he might actually better fit in college at this point in his career than he is in the NFL.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Brett Favre Pitches Ex-Raiders HC Jon Gruden for New College Opening appeared first on Heavy Sports.