Almost the moment news broke that Dennis Allen would be fired as Raiders head coach, the Jon Gruden bandwagon began to roll.
Frustrated silver-and-black fans, remembering what they had when Gruden coached Oakland from 1998-2002 when they were 38-26 and twice in the playoffs, began clamoring for his comeback. Even owner Mark Davis talked about giving him a call.
And the Sacramento Bee’s Ailene Voisin this week wrote that Davis must go the Gruden direction.
“If Mark Davis truly wants to pull off a fast one, to come up with the best sales job of his career, he should be talking to Gruden as we speak, quietly, persuasively, relentlessly,” she wrote. “He should promise the sun, the moon and the stars, the very keys to the franchise: Input on the selection of the next general manager; influence on personnel decisions; the power to overhaul the culture of a famously paranoid organization; a thick, lucrative contract with long-term security.”
But not everyone believes Gruden is the savior many fans believe he is.
In fact, longtime NFL writer Peter King of Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback believes going back to the future with Gruden might be the worst thing Oakland could do.
In a column posted Wednesday, King goes point-by-point, reviewing Gruden’s pluses and minuses. Yes, Gruden built the Raiders up, then took the Bucs to a Super Bowl championship.
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But he also wore out his welcome in in Tampa Bay and was one-and-done in his next two playoff trips with the Bucs. He was just 45-53 after his first season in Tampa and his final team there started 9-3 and then collapsed and missed the playoffs. He’s also hailed as a quarterback guru, yet had a revolving door of passers in Tampa, with many of them flopping. Too, King notes that the offenses in Tampa after the Super Bowl season often were among the worst in the NFL, and he became notes for his feuds with some of his top players.
King also points out that other teams that have dipped into history and hired big-name coaches who’ve been away from the game for a time – such as Washington with Joe Gibbs (a second time), the Cowboys with Bill Parcells and Dick Vermeil in Kansas City and Mike Ditka in New Orleans – didn’t lead to glory.
Writes King: “It’s not hard to understand the Raiders’ infatuation with Gruden. He was at their helm during the final glory days of this fabled franchise. But resist the urge, Oakland. Don’t make your past the map you use to find your way to a better future. Learn from history. Don’t go chasing the celebrated return of the Gruden era. Instead, you could easily wind up recalling the Gruden error.”
For now, of course, Tony Sparano is the interim head coach, charged with turning around a team that's started 0-4 and has lost its last 10 games. The Raiders have a bye this week, with their first opportunity for a win coming Oct. 12 vs. the San Diego Chargers.
