Indiana
Report: Former NFL HC Jon Gruden ‘Has Support’ for Indiana Job After Tom Allen Firing
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Former Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden is a candidate to coach at Indiana University, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.
Gruden has the support of “some key IU folks,” per Feldman.
Currently serving a consulting role with the New Orleans Saints, Gruden last worked as a head coach for the Raiders from 2018 before resigning in 2021.
On Sunday, Indiana bought out the rest of head coach Tom Allen’s contract. The Hoosiers went 3-24 in Big Ten play in the last three seasons under Allen.
Feldman wrote that Gruden “has some support with a few key people high up at the school, I’ve been told.”
However, 247Sports’ Jeff Rabjohns disputed the report mentioning Gruden as a possible candidate:
New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen said in May that Gruden had been brought in to work with Saints quarterback Derek Carr, per ESPN’s Katherine Terrell. Carr played on Gruden’s Raiders from 2018 until the coach’s resignation.
Gruden was five games into the 2021 season when he resigned hours after the publication of a New York Times report sharing emails written by Gruden that contained misogynistic and homophobic language. At the time, Gruden was in the fourth season of a 10-year contract.
After taking his first NFL head coaching role with the Oakland Raiders from 1998-2001, Gruden spent seven seasons and won the 2002 Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Following nine years away from the NFL, he returned to the Raiders in 2018.
He last worked on a college football coaching staff with the now-disbanded Pacific Tigers football program in 1989.
Gruden has ties to Bloomington, which is where he grew up. In 2017, he served as an honorary coach for an Indiana spring game alongside his father, Jim Gruden, who worked as an assistant coach for the Hoosiers from 1973 to 1977.
Other potential candidates for the head coaching position at Indiana include South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack, Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, Ohio State offensive lineman coach Justin Frye and Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough, according to Feldman.