Jon Gruden hasn’t been away from football for the last ten years, in fact, he for all intents and purposes probably just revolutionized a process in which coaches can acquire information from all 32 organizations.
Gruden ascended to heights unknown to anyone not named John Madden, the moment he left the sidelines. Gruden has been allowed to freely study football at every level without the restriction of being about one football team.
“My vision was for Jon Gruden to coach and Reggie McKenzie to bring in the talent..It is the biggest day of my life.”-Mark Davis.
Quarterbacks league-wide have come to see Gruden in the offseason, with practice times being shortened due to CBA and even more limited interactions with coaching staffs, Gruden has met with many teams to learn different ways to adjust how players practice, to pack every possible thing they can into every moment and maximize time.
A self-proclaimed short-term goal orientated coach he is aware that he has to come up with a plan to put the Raiders back on track and build up this football team.
I think there’s a huge ceiling for Derek Carr… If I was a Raider fan I would be excited to see no.4 lining up under center. -Jon Gruden
Carr, the future of the Raiders organization, will also be the most physically gifted quarterback that Jon Gruden will have ever had to coach and develop. With the system that Greg Olson and he will implement will demand a lot of Carr, which will also bring out the greatness in Carr.
While much ado has been made about the “in your face style” of Gruden, he was also quick to remind everyone that in addition to being a red-ass he was the biggest cheerleader in the league. He likes successful plays, likes getting first downs, likes scoring points and most importantly loves winning. Also worth noting, Gruden openly cited the broken bones in Carr’s back as a reasonable cause for the drop in productivity from the year before.
The true genius of Gruden is in the fact that he doesn’t want to agree with everyone. He still has the love of 50 of his ex-players who came to support him in his press conference.
Gruden is here for the love of Oakland, the love of the Raiders, the love of the Black Hole much like Marshawn Lynch, of whom Gruden says he’s never had the pleasure of meeting.
Gruden has always loved football, he’s not a deeply philosophical person, and he’s ready to go. He worked for Al Davis in 1998 when he was 34 years old, now that was pressure. Gruden realizes that he has a lot to prove, but the game is still decided by players in between the lines.
“I have had some opportunities that are unique and I think beneficial as a broadcaster.” -Gruden
