Jon Gruden responds to being linked to college football coaching openings: 'I'm preparing myself'

Jon Gruden has coached, in some capacity, for five NFL teams over the span of his 29-year professional football head coaching career. Other than brief stints early in his career as a tight ends coach at Pacific (1989) and a wide receivers coach at Pittsburgh (1991), however, he has not yet stepped fully into the world of college football.

With head coaching jobs opening up across the college football landscape, Gruden’s name has been thrown around as a potential replacement at multiple schools. The program most often linked to the former Super Bowl-winning head coach has been Arkansas. The Razorbacks parted ways with former head coach Sam Pittman following a 56-13 loss to No. 22 Notre Dame on Sept. 27.

During a hit on Friday’s episode of ‘Pardon My Take,’ Gruden did not directly address any jobs specifically. However, he revealed that he has been preparing himself for a return to coaching.

“I absolutely love football,” Gruden said. “I love it, and it’s pretty much all I have. I have an office, for the people who don’t know, I’ve got a server in there. I just put a lot of money into a server that collects all the film and allows me to study them. Who knows what will happen, but I’m preparing myself as always to coach. But, behind the scenes, we’re getting plenty of football. I promise you.”

Jon Gruden has been out of coaching since 2021

Gruden, most recently, was a consultant with the New Orleans Saints in 2023 following his departure from the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021. In the midst of his fourth season with the franchise (his second stint), Gruden resigned after leaked emails involving racially/misogynistic/homophobic language were uncovered during the NFL’s investigation into Dan Snyder and the Washington Commanders (then known as the Washington Football Team).

Prior to his departure from the NFL, Gruden coached 15 seasons (eight with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders and seven with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers). He boasts a 117-112 career record with a Super Bowl XXXVII win in 2002. He, however, has not coached in college football since 1991, when he was a wide receivers coach at Pittsburgh. Gruden joined the Green Bay Packers as an offensive assistant/quality control coach in 1992 and never returned to the collegiate ranks.

That could soon change, as Gruden has garnered support from many who would like to see him be the next head coach at the University of Arkansas. One of these supporters happens to be NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre, who gave a resounding endorsement of Gruden on Twitter/X last month.

“I’ve always said Jon Gruden is one of the sharpest minds in football,” Favre wrote in a tweet. “His energy, passion, and love for the game are a perfect fit for the SEC. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him land somewhere like Arkansas. I could see Gruden being a spark for that program.”

Gruden told Georgia players he’d ‘die to coach in the SEC’ in August

The now Barstool Sports media personality visited the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Georgia Bulldogs in a video posted to his YouTube channel on Aug. 8 titled “Inside The FFCA Ep. 21.” While speaking to the Georgia players, Gruden revealed how badly he wants to coach once again and, even more importantly, how badly he wants to coach in the SEC.

“The only reason I really came here is because I want to coach again,” Gruden said. “I’m being honest with you. I do not bullsh** either. I want to coach again. I’d die to coach in the SEC. I would love it. I would f***ing love it. I’ll let you guys this… what I know about the SEC is it’s getting harder. The SEC is getting harder. They tell me Texas is in the SEC. They tell me Oklahoma is in the SEC. G**damn.”

Although the former Super Bowl-winning head coach seems to be enjoying the second run of his media career (he was previously an analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcasts from 2009-2017), he has made it clear that he is preparing himself to return to coaching football once again. Could this be at the University of Arkansas? We’ll just have to wait and see.