Even in the aftermath of the Las Vegas Raiders hiring a new, high-profile head coach, Jon Gruden remains at the front of owner Mark Davis’ mind.
Gruden’s head coaching career began in 1998 when he was hired to lead the Oakland Raiders. After consecutive 8-8 seasons to start his tenure, Gruden led the Raiders to 22 wins in Years 3 and 4 while taking his team to the postseason. Of course, Gruden’s time in Oakland came to an end after the controversial Tuck Rule loss to New England.
The electric coach led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl triumph over the Raiders in 2002 — his first year with the Bucs. Gruden spent seven years in Tampa Bay, but he wouldn’t lead another NFL team until 2018.
In ’18, the Raiders brought Gruden back to turn the franchise around. The renowned coach saw his team improve from 4-12 in Year 1 to 7-9 in Year 2. In ’20, the team’s first year in Las Vegas, Gruden’s Raiders went 8-8. Locked into a 10-year deal, Gruden appeared to have the team headed in the right direction.
However, after beginning the ’21 season 3-2, Gruden resigned from his position after reports surfaced that emails he wrote over 10 years included racist, misogynistic, and anti-gay language. Vegas would go on to reach the postseason that year, but has failed to crack eight wins the past three years. Three head coaches have been fired since Gruden resigned, but Davis feels as if stability is imminent.
Davis had the following to say:
“Bringing in Tom Brady was bringing in somebody on the football side that I had been lacking having here in the organization. Back in I guess it was ’18, with Jon Gruden. He was somebody that I brought in and expected to be that person on the football side that would bring stability to the organization. He had a 10-year contract and all that, and his head was chopped off. And we were put in a really bad position as an organization.”
Davis’ comments came in the aftermath of Monday’s introductory press conference for new head coach Pete Carroll and John Spytek — the new general manager. In addition to Brady’s presence in the organization, Davis is hopeful that Carroll and Spytek are the right men to turn the franchise around.
“We want to build something here and again, that’s been the process and that mindset all along,” Davis said. “Like I said, it got offset or kind of blown up when Jon Gruden was sent away and so we’ve been trying to get it right since then and we’ll see, but I’ve got patience to get it right, and I think we’ve got the people now — again I’ve always felt that — results are what speak to me and that’s what we’ll see.”
