Jon Gruden might be making a return to the coaching sideline in 2025.
According to A.J. Perez of Front Office Sports, Jon Gruden is expected to be one of the “hot candidates” among teams looking for a new head coaching in this upcoming cycle.
Any team that hires Gruden will likely face public criticism. Back in 2021, Gruden resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders because of homophobic, sexist and racist emails he sent when he was working as a broadcaster for ESPN. The emails were reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Perez noted the former coach sued the NFL and said it “intentionally” released the messages, although the NFL denied it was the source for the reports.
Yet Perez reported Gruden’s lawsuit against the league is not expected to impact hiring decisions from teams looking for a new head coach ahead of the 2025 campaign.
There was a time when Gruden was considered one of the best coaches in the league. He reached the playoffs three straight years with the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the 2000 through 2002 seasons and lifted the Lombardi Trophy as a Super Bowl champion with the Buccaneers in the final year of that stretch.
His 2000 Raiders team reached the AFC Championship Game, while the 2001 team lost to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots in the Divisional Round in the infamous tuck rule game.
In all, Gruden coached the Raiders from 1998 to 2001 and again from 2018 until he resigned. He coached the Buccaneers from 2002 to ’08. He went 117-112 overall and finished three games above .500 with the Raiders and two games above .500 with the Buccaneers.
There are three NFL teams with head coaching vacancies in the Chicago Bears, New York Jets and New Orleans Saints. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if there are more teams that move on from their head coaches after the season ends.
