There’s been heavy speculation about the Oakland Raiders hiring Jon Gruden ever since they fired Jack Del Rio immediately after the season. Now it’s nearly official.
Steve Corkan reports Gruden will be formally introduced as the Raiders’ head coach on Tuesday. In addition, NFL insider Adam Schefter reports the Raiders are giving Gruden the longest coaching deal in league history: 10 years, $100 million. Wowza.
Gruden’s obviously had success at the NFL level. He won a Super Bowl and he’s 95-81 as a head coach. But he also finished 45-51 in his last six years in the league. He hasn’t coached since the 2008 season. Seems like a pretty big risk for the Raiders, who are moving to Las Vegas in the future. Maybe this was the draw they wanted as they move to a new city.
In any case, this news impacts the Philadelphia Eagles because it means there are only five head coaching vacancies left. Three of those teams have shown interest in Eagles assistants John DeFilippo and/or Jim Schwartz.
It’ll also be interesting to see who replaces Gruden in the booth on ESPN Monday Night Football.
For more reaction to this news, check out our friends over at Silver And Black Pride.