Did Raiders Pave the Way for a Potential Jon Gruden Return?

Getty Former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.

The Las Vegas Raiders have decided to overhaul their offensive coaching staff just nine games into the season. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and offensive line coach James Cregg have all been fired.

The offense, quarterback play and offensive line play have all been very poor so it’s not hard to see why the team would make these moves. However, head coach Antonio Pierce hand-picked this offensive coaching staff and fired them after nine games with the team.

Pierce may be next if the Raiders continue to lose. If he’s given another year, it is extremely important he hires a very good offensive coordinator. Pierce has a defensive background and doesn’t know much about the offensive side of the ball.

The Raiders will likely be drafting a rookie quarterback this year and they can’t afford to have him receive bad coaching early in his career. One person who might actually make some sense to join Pierce’s staff is Jon Gruden.

The former Raiders head coach resigned in 2021 due to The Wall Street Journal reporting on homophobic, racist and sexist emails he had sent in the past. It’s now been a few years since his resignation and Raiders owner Mark Davis has been on record saying he never wanted Gruden to leave in the first place. While Las Vegas can’t make him a head coach again, perhaps he could be the man to run the offense.

Should Raiders Hire Jon Gruden as OC?

While there are still several players that Gruden coached still on the Raiders, it’s likely been long enough since he resigned for there to be huge a power struggle if he returned. People won’t look back fondly on Gruden’s latest tenure in Las Vegas. He went 22-31 and never led the team to the playoffs.

Gruden doesn’t work as a head coach anymore, especially when he’s also making personnel decisions. He’s proven to be very bad at constructing a roster and making draft picks. In this scenario, Gruden would simply be running the offense and calling plays, which is something he’s been great at for most of his career.

The Raiders had a top-11 offense in each of Gruden’s final two years with the team. If he could simply focus on one side of the ball, he could have a lot of success. Plus, the coach is known for his love of quarterbacks so who would be better to develop a young one than Gruden?

Sure, the Raiders would likely be better off hiring a young mind like Ben Johnson to run the offense but that would likely require him to become the head coach. If Las Vegas wants to give Pierce another year, they may not find a better offensive coordinator for him than Gruden. The only concern here is Pierce getting let go and Davis promoting Gruden to head coach again.

Would Gruden Want to Be an OC?

Gruden hasn’t been an offensive coordinator since 1997 so he may have no interest in jobs if he’s not the man in charge. That said, he was doing some consulting for the New Orleans Saints so he could be more open to being an assistant.

At the NFL level, Gruden is not going to be a head coach again anytime soon. The best way for him to get looked at again is to prove that he can still be an elite playcaller. This scenario is still unlikely but it could make a lot of sense for both the Raiders and Gruden if their options are limited.