Jon Gruden Speaks with the Georgia football team
He may no longer find himself on an NFL sideline, but former Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden has not stayed far away from a football field. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend made the trip to Athens on Friday to speak with the Georgia football team as they went through their second day of fall camp.
Gruden, the 61-year-old, is now a Barstool Sports personality, where he brought back his “Gruden’s QB Class” YouTube series, working with NFL Draft quarterback prospects.
But now, he is going around visiting with NFL and college football teams. Following a stop with the Detroit Lions, Gruden went to Georgia. He posted a video and picture of himself watching practice on Friday, before posting a picture of himself and Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, and his son, Andrew, later.
Then, on Sunday morning, Georgia football’s official social media accounts posted a highlight video of Gruden’s speech to the team.
For someone who, like Coach Smart, is known for a fiery personality, Gruden’s speech centered around Georgia’s motto of “fire, passion, and energy.”
“Passion, fire, energy. I’m looking for it. I always look for those things,” Gruden said. “I had the scouts look for it. I wanted to sign players that had it; all my coaches had to have it.”
Smart has honed in on the “fire, passion, and energy” mantra, and by the sounds of it, his program is buying in.
“I see it in the players every day. And it starts with 110 heat index last week, seeing them out there running in that and facing it. And they don’t always have it all the way through that 110 heat index … but they do push and challenge each other,” Smart said on Thursday.