It's been less than three years since Jon Gruden's career in the NFL suddenly ended amid a massive scandal .
Gruden stepped down as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after the New York Times published emails he sent that contained derogatory, misogynistic, and racist statements about players and league officials. It was a shocking way for Gruden's legacy to come crashing down, and he's been trying to work his way back ever since.
His strategy has been questionable, though. He unsuccessfully sued the NFL and has been essentially blacklisted from coaching jobs ever since the scandal broke. That hasn't stopped him from trying to get back into the league, though, and each attempt has a tinge of revenge to it given the teams he's worked with and the one he hasn't.
Jon Gruden helping the Falcons
Last season Gruden spent some time with the New Orleans Saints to help Derek Carr settle into a new offense after leaving the Raiders. He's once again back in the NFC South a year later, this time to help Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons.
Now Gruden has taken his talents to another NFC South team. Dianna Russini reported that Gruden spent time with the Atlanta Falcons this offseason helping Kirk Cousins get settled into a new offense.
To be fair, he was also helping the Kansas City Chiefs so it seems Gruden is going full mercenary mode to try and get back into the NFL. Still, hearing that he's doing a tour of duty with another NFC South team is hard to not take as a subtle dig at Tampa Bay.
Kirk Cousins also spent some time in the off-season working out with Jon Gruden. https://t.co/0zMpHc56kP
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 4, 2024
Gruden has a bone to pick with the Bucs over the way they dropped him like a bad habit after his scandal a few years ago.
Almost as soon as he stepped down as head coach of the Raiders following some racist and sexist emails getting leaked, the Glazers removed Gruden from the Buccaneers Ring of Honor and erased all traces of him around the team facility.
Needless to say, this didn't go over well with Gruden. He hasn't been vocal about his feelings over the whole matter, but it's not hard to believe he'd harbor a grudge against the team that not only fired him in 2009 but is now pretending like he never existed despite winning the franchise's first Super Bowl.
It hasn't been expressly stated that Gruden is working with NFC South teams to get back at the Bucs, but it's not hard to connect the dots or fill in the blanks. All he needs to do is work with the Carolina Panthers and his trifecta will be complete.
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