Could Jon Gruden Be “Coming Home” To Cleveland?
Jon Gruden is that one coaching “fish” that nearly dozens of football teams — both NFL and college — have cast their line out for with the hopes of catching, to no avail.
But is it possible that the guy who grew up on the shores of Lake Erie ends up swimming home, and being caught by the woebegone NFL franchise located just 65 miles away from his hometown of Sandusky, Ohio?
Regardless of what the Cleveland Browns have said publicly, it seems absolutely ridiculous — even for a franchise with a recent history of glorious incompetence — that the organization would continue to employ incumbent head coach Hue Jackson, who currently owns the worst record in NFL history for any head coach in his first 30 games (Jackson is 1–29). Irrespective of whether he’s been hamstrung by a front office that beautifully personifies the phrase “too many cooks spoil the soup,” how the hell are you supposed to sell the future of your team when your coach is coming up on 365 days since his team has last won a game, and is on pace this year to join John McKay and Rod Marinelli as the only coaches to not win a single regular season game? Owners need a guy that they can go and pitch to fans and corporations with deep pockets, in exchange for season ticket and luxury box sales. How many people are going to want to spend thousands of dollars to continue to watch Jackson lead this team to falling flat on its face?
Now, Jon Gruden? THAT’s a name you can sell. And the idea of Gruden succeeding Jackson as the next head coach of the Browns is a lot more possible than you’d otherwise think.
First and foremost: the NFL is all about relationships. General Managers always prefer a guy they already know, because it makes it easier to sell the idea of the hire to the owner, and to work with that coach on a daily basis, in terms of building and developing the roster.
But John Dorsey, the new General Manager of the Browns, won’t have to sell Gruden to team owner Jimmy Haslam at all; in fact, Gruden — and his family — and the Haslam family already have a friendly relationship. Gruden got his coaching start in the mid-1980’s at the University of Tennessee, where the Haslam family currently operates as the de facto ruling family of the athletic department. Gruden was reportedly spotted having dinner with Haslam’s family in Knoxville a few months ago, which led to a lot of zealous University of Tennessee fans and alumni speculating that Gruden was interested in the head coach position for the Volunteers. Haslam has long been a fan of Gruden, so pulling off the feat of bringing back to the sidelines — and out of the Monday Night Football booth — would be a huge pivot in the right direction for him, especially in the eyes of a Cleveland fan base who are very aware of all the mistakes he’s made while running this team.
More importantly, Dorsey — whom Haslam has made the new football czar in Cleveland — is going to bring in a head coach whom he’s comfortable working with, whether that’s sooner or later. Not coincidentally, Dorsey and Gruden have a history together as well. They both come from the Mike Holmgren “coaching tree,” and actually crossed paths in Green Bay back in the mid-1990’s; Gruden was the an offensive assistant coach there for three years, while Dorsey worked as a scout under Ron Wolf. In other words: the two of them would work just fine together, having been “brought up” under the same coaching and team-building philosophies.
Gruden would be the guy that Haslam would finally allow the time to properly build and cultivate a winning team, without getting an itchy trigger finger at the first sign of adversity. Gruden would be a guy that would work harmoniously with the football minds that Haslam has already brought in to right this sinking ship. And Gruden would bring instant credibility to the guys in the locker room, having already built one team into a Super Bowl runner-up (the Oakland Raiders) and led another to a Super Bowl win (Tampa Bay).
And why would Gruden give up the comfortable confines of television and return back to the sidelines, especially to work for the most feeble NFL team of the last decade? How about the opportunity to personally mold one of the best quarterback prospects to come out of college in recent memory, AND take another player with a top five pick in the 2018 NFL Draft?
If the NFL Draft took place today, the Browns would have the #1 overall pick, as well as the #4 overall pick (the latter of which they acquired during the 2017 NFL Draft, from the Houston Texans… which ended up being the spot that Houston selected quarterback Deshaun Watson). So Gruden (and Dorsey) could not only select either quarterback Sam Darnold from USC (if he declares) or Josh Rosen from UCLA, but also land another one of the draft’s super blue-chip prospect (in a class that has really only five or six truly elite prospects).
Imagine if Cleveland was able to walk out of the 2018 Draft with either Darnold or Rosen, and then grab someone like running back Saquon Barkley from Penn State (giving them an offensive playmaker that they sorely need), a pass rusher like Bradley Chubb from NC State (who’d pair with Myles Garrett to give Cleveland two of the most physically imposing young pass rushing tandems in the NFL immediately), or a defensive back like Derwin James from Florida State or Minkah Fitzpatrick from Alabama (helping them shore up a passing defense that’s ranked 28th in pass defense DVOA)?
THAT is how you jump start the rebuilding process for a team.
As mentioned, Gruden grew up about an hour away from Cleveland, and rooted for the Browns growing up. He’d receive the “Welcome Home” adulation that would likely be on par with what was received by LeBron James in 2014. He’d have an Owner who’s just as a big a fan of him, a General Manager whom he would trust, and perhaps the most stocked cache of draft picks of any team in the league. And even the mere accomplishment of leading the Browns to back-to-back winning seasons would be cause for celebration, considering it’s been three decades since the Browns have had such “success.”
I’m not saying Gruden-to-Cleveland will happen. But I am saying it’s on the table, and a LOT more possible than most people realize.
Week 16 NFL Picks
Indianapolis at Baltimore (-13.5)
Minnesota (-9) at Green Bay
Denver at Washington (-3.5)
Detroit (-4.5) at Cincinnati
LA Chargers (-7) at NY Jets
LA Rams (-6.5) at Tennessee
Cleveland at Chicago (-6.5)
Tampa Bay at Carolina (-10)
Atlanta at New Orleans (-5.5)
Miami at Kansas City (-10.5)
Buffalo at New England (-12)
Jacksonville (-4) at San Francisco
NY Giants at Arizona (-3.5)
Seattle at Dallas (-5)
Pittsburgh (-9.5) at Houston
Oakland at Philadelphia (-9)
Last Week: 6–7–3
Season To Date: 106–102–9
